A Force To Be Reckoned With
by darkstorm5000
Summary: A romance develops between Colossus and Shadowcat, just as the next generation of mutants prepare to face a brand new threat. Final Chapter Added.
1. Not quite a force, at least not yet

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters. They are owned by Marvel.

I've recently started writing fan-fiction and this is my first X-men story. This story takes place a few months after the end of X2. Right now, some of Xavier's students are going through, what seems like, a rite of passage for those who attend his School for the Gifted…

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"Is everyone prepared for the training session to begin?" Professor X telepathically asked his students.

"Yes, Professor." Jubilee, Colossus, Iceman, Rogue and Shadowcat all answered, dressed in their new uniforms. They were exactly like the regular uniforms that the older X-Men wore, except that instead of being black leather with bronze trim, these uniforms were dark blue with silver trim. Some of the students had also made some individual modifications to their uniforms. Colossus had removed the sleeves from his uniform, while Jubilee had cut out the finger holes on her gloves.

"Then let the exercise begin." Professor X informed them, as he initiated the Danger Room Sequence from the control booth high above. The room suddenly came to life with mechanical gears spinning and whirring within.

"Look out!" Rogue yelled out to her teammates as two spinning gun turrets emerged from beneath the floor and started firing non-lethal projectiles at them.

Colossus, already in his armored form, was unphased as the projectiles bounced harmlessly off of him. Shadowcat managed to phase both herself and Jubilee, just in time to avoid being struck. Iceman, who was by Rogue's side, quickly threw up an ice wall to deflect the onslaught of rubber bullets.

"Man, what do we do now?" Rogue said as she knelt down behind the frozen wall.

"It's your call. The Prof made you team leader." Bobby told her as he knelt beside her and gently touched her on the shoulder.

"I guess he did. Okay Colossus, see if you can make it over to one of the turrets and take it out." Rogue said as she talked into her communicator.

"All right." Colossus replied as he started running towards the gun turret on the right side of the room. He was confident that he could accomplish the task, especially since he was virtually indestructible in a body composed of organic steel. But while he was prepared for anything the Danger Room could throw at him, his confidence left him ill prepared for the fact that the Danger Room could throw him just as easily. As he stepped on a floor tile near the turret, he was tossed about fifteen feet in the air and about twenty yards backwards. He hit the ground with a loud, hard thud. He was unharmed, but the sudden impact left him temporarily disoriented.

"Look's like Tin Man's down. What now?" Jubilee asked Rogue, as she and Shadowcat took refuge behind the barrier Iceman had created.

As the students gathered to discuss their strategy, another onlooker next to the Professor made an observation of his own.

"These kids are getting their butts kicked, on a simulation set at its lowest level." Logan stated as he raised an unlit cigar to his face.

"They will get better, as they gain more experience with their powers. It will just take time." Xavier replied to Logan.

Professor X then sent another telepathic message to his students, "Remember that the purpose of this exercise is for you to accomplish your objective, but also to do so working together as a team."

Rogue, who was still knelt down behind the protection of the ice wall, took heed of the Professor's words.

"Okay Bobby, the turret's motion sensor is on the top. See if you can ice it up." Rogue said to him.

Iceman created a hand-held shield made of ice and then ran out from behind the safety of his ice wall. He was able to get close enough to freeze the sensor on the turret on the left side of the room before returning behind the barrier.

"Jubilee, see if you can zap that turret and finish taking it out." Rogue then said to her.

With Iceman giving her cover from the gun turret on the right side of the room, Jubilee blasted the left side turret with everything she had, disabling the weapon.

"Now we just have to take out the other one." Bobby stated.

While Rogue, Jubilee, and Iceman had been working on the turret on the left side of the room, Shadowcat had phased her physical form once again and had walked over to Colossus to see if he was okay.

"You going to make it, big guy?" Kitty asked Peter, half teasing him while she touched his arm and kept them in a phased state together.

"I think so." Peter responded, his pride being hurt more than any part of his physical being, "You know, you don't have to use your power on me. I'm pretty much protected, as long as I'm armored up. I'm sure you must be getting pretty drained."

"Not really." Kitty replied, "I've gotten to where I can phase pretty large objects. Now, it has more to do with me being able to concentrate while I'm phasing."

As the pair sat on the ground with Shadowcat still holding onto the steel forearm of Colossus, they noticed that Jubilee had finished with one of the two gun towers.

"That's our cue. Follow me." Kitty said as she stood up

"What do you mean?" Peter replied.

Shadowcat then ran towards the turret on the right side of the room,  unharmed as the bullets passed right through her. She continued on her path, going straight through the turret and shorting out its electrical components. Colossus followed behind her, leaping at the turret shoulder first, completely demolishing it.

"Excellent work." Xavier said, congratulating his students as the Danger Room training session ended, "I'm glad that you were able to accomplish your objective working together. But bear in mind that this was a low-level exercise, you still have much work that lies ahead."

As the doors to the Danger Room opened, the group started making their post-training plans.

"I'm going to hit the mall, you two wanna come with?" Jubilee asked Rogue and Bobby.

"Sure, how about you Bobby?" Rogue asked him.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Bobby replied as he put his arm around Rogue, "Hey, you guys wanna join us?"

"No thanks," Colossus responded, "I think I'll stay here at the mansion."

"What about you Kit-Cat?" Jubilee asked her.

"I think I'll just hang around here too." Kitty answered.

"Sounds like a killer Friday Night to me." Jubilee said sarcastically as she, Rogue, and Bobby left the Danger Room.

"So what'cha got planned?" Kitty asked Peter.

"I'll probably go and work on some more of my sketches." Peter replied.

"I heard you were THE artist around here." Kitty complimented him, "Maybe you could let me look at some of them?"

"Um, sure. I can go to my room to get some of my completed sketches and let you see them." Peter responded as they walked toward the Danger Room exit together. He had a sudden feeling of uneasiness come over him. No one, especially a girl that was as smart and pretty as he thought Kitty was, had shown an interest in or had given him a compliment on his artistic ability. As the pair reached the exit door, Logan appeared in front of them.

"So, now that you're through playin' around with the kids, you ready to play with the grown-ups?" Logan asked Peter with a wry smile.

Peter stood there and looked at Kitty, remembering the plans he had just made with her. He wanted to spend time with her, but he didn't want to pass up a chance to pick up fighting techniques from Wolverine. Just then, Kitty solved Peter's dilemma for him.

"Go ahead. I actually have some things I need to care of, but we can still meet later tonight and you can show your sketches to me." Kitty told him.

"Of course, um…I will see you later." Peter answered nervously, as he watched Kitty walk down the corridor.

"It's a date then." Kitty said as she turned the corner at the end of the corridor.

"A date?" Peter thought to himself.

Peter walked back into the Danger Room with Logan, wondering if she meant what she had said. Kitty ran to the elevator, her feeling of anticipation already starting to get the best of her.

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Next Chapter: Friday Night

A/N: Feel free to post your comments and any constructive feedback you may have.


	2. True Love

A/N: Thanks to Caliente and punkcatwitissues for your reviews.

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Kitty rushed to her room, after she had showered and changed into something more comfortable. She couldn't wait to log onto her computer and make the latest entry in her personal diary. Just as she sat down and was about to begin, two of her younger schoolmates interrupted her.

"So, what'cha doing Kitty?" Theresa Cassidy asked, as she appeared at Kitty's bedroom doorway.

"It's private." Kitty replied, not wanting to talk about her innermost thoughts with the young girl who stayed in the room next door to hers.

"I bet she's writing about Peter." Danielle Moonstar, another young resident of the girls' hall guessed, as she stopped and stood next to Theresa.

"And how would you know what I'm writing about?" Kitty asked her defensively.

"Because, I heard you telling Jubilee that you thought Peter was soooo cute." Danielle said giggling at her.

"You were spying on me, you little snoop!" Kitty exclaimed.

"We were not spying, you were talking to Jubilee and the door to your room was wide open. I can't help it if we can hear you in our room, right next door." Theresa asserted.

"You should still mind your own business." Kitty said to the both of them.

Theresa and Danielle continued bothering Kitty, giggling and making kissing sounds. Finally, Kitty got up and slammed the door to her room shut.

"Immature Brats. They're part of the reason that I came up with my own personal encryption system for my diary." Kitty thought to herself, as she logged onto her computer.

_Dear Diary,_

_            I finally did it! After saying I was going to do it for months, I got up enough courage to say more than just 'Hi and Bye' to Peter. I was in the Danger Room with him and the other junior X-Men, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him! He looked just like that night when those soldiers attacked the school. I had seen him around the school before all that happened, but that was the first night that I REALLY noticed him. He was SO brave, rescuing Theresa and then helping to gather the younger kids and take them to the emergency safe house the Professor had set up. Dani and Theresa were teasing me a few minutes ago about it. They're not old enough yet to understand what it means to be in love. But then again, they're only a year or two younger than me. What if Peter looks at me the same way since I'm a couple of years younger than him? What if he thinks I'm just some dumb little schoolgirl with a stupid crush on him? What if he doesn't feel the same way about me? No wait, it's like Jubilee said. I have to be more confident than that. Wow, I can barely wait 'til tonight!_

After signing off, Kitty went and laid down on her bed. She tried to think of all of the perfect things she wanted to say to Peter.

Meanwhile in the Mansion's kitchen, Wolverine and Colossus were unwinding following their training session.

"You handle yourself pretty good in a fight kid. I think the tag-team move that we were workin' on may come in handy someday." Logan said to Peter as he got himself a beer out of the refrigerator.

"I just hope I wasn't too rough in there. I haven't learned to control my strength very well when I'm armored up." Peter said apologetically.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Besides, I don't break that easily, bub." Logan asserted.

As the two sat there, Logan proceeded to light his customary cigar, while Peter decided to ask him something that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Peter asked Logan.

"Go ahead, shoot." Logan replied.

"Do you think if two people, who are really different, can overcome that and work as a couple?" Peter proposed.

Logan sat there for a moment before responding.

"You sure you want love advice, from me of all people, kid?" Logan asked him.

"Never mind." Peter replied as he started to get up.

"Hold on, I didn't say I wouldn't answer ya." Logan continued, "Anyways, I guess it just depends on the people. This got somethin' to do with you and 'Ghost Girl'?"

"I suppose." Peter said to him as he sat back down.

"What, you don't like her?" Logan asked him as he continued to puff on his cigar.

"No, it's not that. She's just so different from me, she's really smart and beautiful." Peter answered.

"Then here's a word of advice. If you really like this girl, then don't waste time worryin' about whether or not you're good enough for her. Take it from an expert, if two people are meant to be together then can't nuthin' change that, except for the two people." Logan said as he got up to walk to his room.

As Logan headed towards the stairs, Peter was left to sit at the table and think about what the older X-man had said to him.

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Next Chapter: Rogue reveals something to Jubilee, and it has to do with Bobby…


	3. It still bothers you, doesn't it?

A/N: Thank you to Tornado Ally, SperryDee, Caliente, and emicablue for reviewing the previous chapter of this story.

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Meanwhile at the Salem shopping center, three students from Xavier's school were there to blow off a little steam after a long week.

"How does this one look?" Rogue asked, as she held a light orange dress up to herself from a clothing rack in a trendy department store.

"All right, I guess. If you're going for that 'I'm a pumpkin' look." Jubilee replied as she held a blouse up to one of the store mirrors.

"Okay, ah get your drift." Rogue replied as she put the dress back on the sales rack, "I don't know why I even picked it out, Ah'm so not a dress person."

"You picked it out so you could show off how you actually look in one, all for 'Mr. Handsome' over there." Jubilee said as she pointed at Bobby. He was sitting on a bench outside of the store, lost in his own thoughts.

"You don't know how lucky you are. Most guys our age would've probably found any lame excuse they could think of to bolt, just to keep from going with their girlfriends while they shop for 'girls-stuff'." Jubilee continued, "But not lover-boy, he just sits there all patient and everything."

"To be honest Jubilee, I think there might be more behind it. Ever since John took off, Bobby's been acting differently. He either spends all of his free time with me or he's off somewhere by himself. Its almost like a part of him's been cut off or something." Rogue replied.

"What do you expect? I mean they were almost like brothers." Jubilee responded.

"I know. I'm not saying that he shouldn't miss John because I really miss him too. I guess ah'm just hoping John's leaving doesn't start having some horrible effect on Bobby." Rogue stated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well one night, a couple of weeks after we had got back, Bobby said something about maybe it was his fault that John left. That maybe we didn't try hard enough to make him feel like he was a part of the group." Rogue told her as she picked up a pair of dark denim jeans.

"To be honest, I don't really buy that. We've all felt like outsiders at one time or another, but we don't take up with a madman because of it." Jubilee said disagreeing.

"You have a good point. But I guess my point is what if Bobby really is blaming himself for what happened with John?" Rogue responded.

"Why don't you ask him?" Jubilee proposed.

"I have. But all he ever says is that he doesn't want to talk about it and then just changes the subject. I hate to think that he's just bottling everything up inside."

"Then you should probably tell the Professor, or maybe Logan?" Jubilee told her.

"Ah've thought of that too. But I don't want Bobby to think that he can't confide in me. Plus, I don't want to bring up anything to do with Alkali Lake around Logan." Rogue revealed.

"Well, you've reached your three-think maximum with me, I'm all out of ideas." Jubilee said to her.

"I didn't mean to lay all of my problems on you, I guess I just needed to vent a little."

"It's all right, but we better get a move on before your boyfriend gets picked up for loitering outside of a ladies clothing store." Jubilee said as she had finally decided on the outfit that she wanted to buy.

After the girls had paid for their new clothes, they went outside to where Bobby had been sitting. He had been alone with his thoughts and had spent the better part of an hour staring off into space. He hadn't even noticed it when the two girls finally walked up to him. But being lost in his thoughts wasn't the main reason that Bobby hadn't noticed them.

"What, have I been gone so long that you don't recognize your own girlfriend?" Rogue said as she tapped Bobby on the shoulder.

"No, of course not. I've just been keeping an eye on those two clowns over there. They were watching you two the whole time you were in the store." Bobby said as he looked in the direction of two teenage boys, who were probably about the same age as they were. As the trio looked at the two boys, they saw one of the boys point back at the young mutants.

"Maybe they're just mesmerized by my gorgeous looks." Jubilee said jokingly, in a voice trying to imitate the way old movie stars used to talk.

"I don't think that's it." Bobby replied, his voice sounding more serious.

"We should probably just go then." Rogue said.

"All right." Bobby said as he got up to start in the direction of the two boys.

"Maybe we should go out the other way." Rogue suggested.

The trio walked towards another exit from the mall, to avoid them. But the two young men were determined to talk to the trio and followed them outside.

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Next Chapter: Rogue, Bobby, and Jubilee meet an unexpected new friend…


	4. Worth a thousand words

"So you from around here?" One of the boys asked Rogue, Bobby, and Jubilee.

"Yeah." Jubilee answered shortly, skeptical of the reason why he was asking.

"I don't think I've seen you around Hamilton High?" The other boy asked.

"We go to Xavier's…School for the Gifted." Bobby replied.

The two boys looked at each other and then back at the trio.

"Oh, you mean that school for science experiments. At least that's the rumor we've been hearing." The first boy said point-blank.

"Why don't you just go back to your freak school?" The second one said to them.

"So, you going to do something about it if we don't?" Bobby replied to one of the boys as they stood outside in the mall parking lot. Bobby showed that he had no intention of backing down from them and was secretly icing one of his hands up behind his back, making it as solid as concrete.

"Yeah, me and my friend are going to kick your mutie-ass around this parking lot." One of the boys said.

"Then you'll have to do that with the odds three-against-two." Rogue told them.

"Fine by me. I don't have a problem hitting a girl, especially one that looks like she's from another planet." The second boy replied, making a comment about Rogue's hair.

"You're one to talk about the way somebody else looks, especially the way that you're dressed." Jubilee verbally struck back.

"Huh?" He replied.

"Oooh look at me, I totally think the Grunge-Look is still in." Jubilee said as she mocked the second boy.

"I changed my mind, I think I'll start with your big mouth!" The second boy said, as he was about to take a swing at Jubilee. Jubilee prepared to duck his punch and hit him back. But suddenly, fighting back became a moot point.

"It's not nice to hit a lady." A young man said as he grabbed the second boy from behind.

The other four teens saw another individual, who by first glance, was neither extraordinary looking nor very intimidating. But his greatest attribute wasn't something that could be seen visually. His heart.

"Ramsey, why don't you go back and play with your computer or something, before we decide to put geeks in the same category as mutants?" The second boy said to him, as he threw young Mr. Ramsey to the ground.

"How about you stop trying to bully people, just because they're different from you." He replied, as he slowly sat up on the asphalt.

"I can't believe your actually sticking up for these freaks!" The first boy stated.

"Believe it." He said simply.

"You can hang out with them if you want to, just don't be surprised when one of 'em ends up killing you and your family." The first boy said as he and the second one turned to leave.

"Who would have thought, a real-life knight in shining armor?" Jubilee said jokingly as she thanked the young man who had stuck up for her and her friends.

"It's no big deal. I saw those guys following you out here from inside the mall. They're always finding somebody to pick on at my school." He replied.

"Well, it is a big deal. And an easy way to get yourself hurt, especially considering the reason why they didn't like us." Bobby said to him.

"Just because you're mutants, doesn't give those jerks the right to make you feel like you're less than human." He told the trio.

"I wish everybody felt the same way you do." Rogue said as she held onto Bobby's hand with her own gloved-hand, "My name's Marie and this is my boyfriend Bobby."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Doug." He said to Rogue and Bobby. He then turned to the other young lady that was standing next to them. "And what's your name?"

"Me? My name's Jubilee." Jubilee replied non-chalantly.

"Nice to meet you Jubilee. You know, you have a pretty unusual name." Doug said as he gently shook her hand.

"I know. Of all the names out there, stupid 'rents had to name me Jubilation." Jubilee replied as she folded her arms across her body.

"Actually, I think it's a nice name. It's unique and different." Doug said to her.

"Really?" Jubilee responded, caught off guard by his compliment.

"Hey guys, we should probably head back to the school." Bobby said to the group.

"Mind if I tag along for part of the way? I don't think your school is very far from my house." Doug asked them.

"Sure, but you'd better buckle up. Rogue isn't what you'd call a conservative driver." Jubilee responded. She waited while Doug went back for a shopping bag that he had laid on the ground during the altercation. After he picked it up, they followed Bobby and Rogue to the car.

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Meanwhile back at the mansion…

Kitty had come downstairs to meet up with Peter, but he wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Where could he be?" She thought to herself. Kitty decided to go to the recreation area and see if maybe he was waiting for her in there.

"Have you guys seen Peter?" Kitty asked two of the students that were seated on the sofa watching TV.

"Ah think he went out to tha garden area." Samuel Guthrie replied.

"Thanks." Kitty replied as she walked toward the doors that led outside.

"No problem." Sam said as he turned his attention back to the TV, "Hey Jones, stop blinking for a second. Ah was watchin' that!"

The flower garden was the most beautiful section of the school and Kitty didn't have to wonder why Peter would want to go out there. As she reached the entrance, Kitty expected to find him sitting and waiting for her. But instead, he was busy working on a new portrait.

"So, what's your latest masterpiece?" Kitty asked him.

"I'm trying to paint the landscape as the sun is setting," Peter replied as he continued to work with the canvas, "but I can't seem to get it right."

"Seems simple, draw a big orange circle and some yellow rays around it." Kitty said.

"If it were only that easy," Peter replied with a small laugh, "I want to capture the essence of the sunset, to express what it means to me."

"I guess that's a little more complicated." Kitty responded.

"I keep looking at it and looking at it. My painting almost looks like the scene that I have in my mind, but it just is not saying what I want it to." Peter said as he stood stoically in front of his artwork.

 "It looks really good to me. But then again, I'm no art expert." Kitty said as she stood next to Peter.

Kitty placed one hand on Peter's shoulder and leaned against him, looking at the beautiful expression he had put onto the canvas. Peter could feel a tingling sensation go through his body from her touch. Peter realized that she was phasing the both of them and it seemed as though Kitty was completely unaware that she was even doing it. Peter didn't say anything about it, because it actually felt kind of nice. He wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that the molecules in his body were being displaced and he felt lighter from the phasing effect, or just the fact that Kitty was standing so close to him.

"Have you always liked painting?" Kitty asked him, breaking the silence.

"I've been doing it as a hobby for the last few years. I didn't even start until I came to this school from my home in Siberia." Peter answered. He decided to take a break from his work and they both walked over to a nearby bench to sit down.

"You never talk about your home country, don't you miss it?" Kitty inquired.

"Yes, but not as much as when I first arrived here."

"It must've been strange to be in another country, with a whole new language to learn."

"The language part wasn't that difficult. The Professor helped me overcome my language barrier with his telepathic guidance, and I did some extra work on my own." Peter said to her.

"Do you think you can still speak Russian as well as you did before you came here?"

"Of course! It is like riding a bicycle, you don't forget how. Here's an example, 'Privet Katya'!" Peter said to her.

"What does that mean?" Kitty asked as she gazed at Peter.

"It means 'Hello Kitty'!"

"So my name in Russian is Katya?" She replied.

"Yes, I think it has a wonderful ring to it. As a matter of fact, my real name is Piotr, but I figured Peter would be a lot easier for most of the students here to pronounce." Peter said.

"Okay, say something else." Kitty asked him.

"Katya, Vy ochen'krasivy." Peter said to her.

"I guess that means 'Kitty, you are a very slow learner'." Kitty said with a small laugh.

"No. Actually it means 'Kitty, you are very beautiful'." Peter said as he translated for her.

"Oh." Kitty said as she smiled and started to blush.

The pair didn't say anything else to each other for a while. Instead, they sat there and watched a beautiful sight as the sun started to set. Eventually, Peter spoke again.

"So, what of your family?"

"Well, my family is typical suburbia. My parents both have successful careers. My Dad happens to work for one of the largest banks in Chicago. I guess it's too bad my powers kept me from being the perfect daughter, in their otherwise, picture-perfect family." Kitty told him.

"My parents were anxious when I left home to come here. How did your parents feel when you left?" Peter inquired.

"At first they were hesitant, but they knew it was the best place for me to learn to control my ability. The first time my powers worked, I was asleep in my bed one night. The next thing I knew, I was downstairs in our living room. As time passed, I started having more and more episodes like that, and I didn't know how to stop myself from occasionally walking through walls or furniture. I was getting really scared because I didn't know what was happening to me. Then one day, the Professor and Dr. Grey showed up and explained everything to me and my family. When she told me about being a mutant and that I wasn't totally alone, it was like such a huge relief. I guess that's the one thing I'm never going to forget about her, they way she could comfort you with only a few words." Kitty revealed to him.

"Indeed." Peter agreed.

Peter and Kitty sat there and continued to talk to each other about their lives until it was late in the evening, neither one really wanting their conversation to come to an end.

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Next Chapter: Somebody's got a boyfriend…

A/N: Special Thanks to www.dating-world.net for the Russian phrases I used in this chapter. (Yes I realize the irony, pick up lines in Russian. But they had a pretty good list of other Russian phrases as well.)


	5. Learning Curve

The next day started off with a beautiful Saturday morning. Most of the mansion's residents took advantage of the opportunity to sleep late, but there were a select few who were already up, making use of the school's massive training complex.

"Guten Morgen, Herr Logan! A pleasure to see you this fine day." Kurt Wagner greeted Logan while he paused on the Olympic still rings he had been working out on.

"Mornin' Elf." Logan replied as he walked into the school's giant gymnasium, holding a rather large duffle bag.

"What is that you are carrying?" Kurt inquired as he jumped down to the mat that covered a good portion of the floor in gym #3.

"This? It's for the lessons I'm givin' Rogue on small arms and weapons training." Logan answered as he took a large pair of swords out of the bag.

"Is that not a bit…extreme?" Kurt asked him.

"Everything we do around here has to be extreme, especially when you consider the kinda scraps that we get into. Rogue's powers don't give her much in the way of offense like some of the other kids. I'm just tryin' to give her an edge when it comes to hand-to-hand fighting." Logan explained, as he held an unlit cigar up to his face in between his fingers.

"Sometimes you act as an over-protective father would when it comes to her." Kurt said as he joked with Logan.

"That's the way it seems, doesn't it? Who would've expected that coming from me, of all people?" Logan replied.

"I think it is very admirable. I just hope that you remember not to push her too hard." Kurt told him.

"Actually, Rogue's surprised me on how fast of a learner she is. She's picking up all of the different types of fightin' techniques I've been showin' her with hardly any problems." Logan explained.

"And that begs the question, where did you learn all of those things?" Kurt continued.

"That's what I've been trying to figure out myself, bub. The Prof's been working with this mess o' memories in my head, but so far all I got is bunch of flashes and glimpses, with no real connection to one another. I can see myself in a variety of places around the world, but it feels like I'm lookin' at postcards from somebody else's vacation." Logan revealed to him.

"That must be very frustrating for you." Kurt replied as he leapt over to the balance beam, with what seemed to be little effort on his part.

"You're tellin' me." Logan agreed.

Over the last few months Logan had opened up to Kurt about his life, telling him things that he hadn't told anyone else, not even Rogue. Logan thought of himself as a loner in life. But he figured that Kurt understood, better than anybody else, what it was like to feel isolated. Logan sensed a kindred spirit in Kurt and he felt that the blue-skinned mutant could understand him in a way that few others could. The two men would spend countless hours training together in the mansion's Danger Room or just sitting around and talking. They discussed Kurt's life growing up in the circus and they talked about the few fragments of Logan's life that he was able to recall. Even though Kurt wasn't much of a drinker, he would on occasion share a beer with Logan. In short, the two men had become friends. As they continued to talk in the training room, they were joined by one of the students of the school, dressed in a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Good Morning Katzen." Kurt greeted her.

"Good Morning Kurt." Kitty replied.

"I didn't expect to see up this early kid?" Logan said to her, "You and Pete were still talkin' in one of the rec rooms when I got in last night, and I know I got in pretty late."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that I wanted to get down here and get my workout over with before everybody else got up and overran this place." Kitty said to Logan and Kurt as she kept walking towards the weight room.

After taking a few more steps, Kitty stopped to look down at the objects that were lying on the floor next to the duffle bag.

"What're these swords doing in here?" She asked.

"I've been givin' Rogue lessons in close-range combat. If you want, I could probably give you some pointers that might come in pretty handy during a fight?" Logan asked her.

"I've already had self-defense lessons, and some other martial arts training." Kitty responded.

"Really? And where'd you get all this heavy training from?" Logan curiously asked her.

"Scott taught me." Kitty replied.

"The Boy-Scout!" Logan exclaimed, "This I gotta see."

Logan then stood back and gave Kitty room so that she could show him what she had learned.

"Okay, here goes!" Kitty said as she got into a traditional fighting stance.

Her demonstration only lasted for a couple of minutes, but once she had finished, Kurt made a comment on her ability.

"Logan, it appears she has taken the words right out of your mouth." Kurt remarked as he crouched down on the balance beam.

"Was that good enough?" Kitty asked Logan. She held her foot completely still, a couple of inches away from Logan's face. She had used perfect form in demonstrating how to deliver a high kick.

"Fine, darlin'. I suppose next time we can spar together, and I can see how good you really are." Logan replied as Kitty lowered her leg back down to the ground. "So, you mean to tell me Summers taught you all of that?"

"Yeah, but you don't have to take my word for it, just ask Scott whenever he comes back. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a personal exhibition." Kitty stated as she confidently continued her journey to the weight room.

Kitty worked out for about an hour and a half and then she made her way back to the girls' wing. She was ready to relax for a while and maybe do some more of her homework, which she was already ahead on. As she walked down the corridor to her room, she stopped when she heard her name being called out.

"Hey Kit-Cat! Why don't cha stop and hang with us for a minute?" Jubilee asked her from her room.

"Okay." Kitty replied as she turned and went inside, "So what's up?"

"You should tell us. How'd everything go last night with you and Peter?" Jubilee asked her.

"It was so amazing. We literally talked for hours and hours, about everything." Kitty replied as the vibrance in her voice shone through.

"Sounds really awesome. It must be nice to have a conversation with a guy and he actually says something back to you." Jubilee's roommate Rogue said as she lay on her bed, staring straight up at the ceiling. "So Kitty, why are you up so early anyways?"

"I went down to the gym so I could go ahead and get my training session over with." Kitty answered, "But I got held up while I was down there by the other guy in your life." Kitty answered Rogue.

"What 'other' guy?" Rogue asked.

"Logan." Kitty said as she smiled while teasing Rogue.

"Oooh, an older guy too." Jubilee said as she joined in with Kitty.

"Just for that wisecrack 'Mall-rat', Ah guess I'll have to tell Kitty about your new man." Rogue replied.

"This I gotta hear. Who is it?" Kitty asked as she listened intensely for Rogue's response.

"It's a guy that showed up last night while a couple of thugs were harassing us. He risked life and limb just to rescue his damsel in distress over there." Rogue said as she turned the tables on Jubilee, who was normally the one who made smart-mouthed comments about everyone else.

"Just because I think he's a decent guy, doesn't mean that he's my boyfriend all of a sudden." Jubilee replied, trying to play off Rogue's comments, "Besides, I doubt he's gonna want to hang around with me once he sees all the weirdness that goes on around this place."

"I don't know, he seemed really into you; judging by the way you two talked the whole ride from the mall to his house." Rogue continued.

"Sounds majorly serious…" Kitty continued, enjoying the hard time that she and Rogue were giving Jubilee.

"And you should be the expert. You get this glazed over look whenever 'Russian Picasso' walks by." Jubilee replied.

"At least I'm not afraid to admit I actually like him. You act like being in love is some kind of disease or something." Kitty said.

"I do not." Jubilee quickly challenged, "I'm just selective is all."

"Whatever." Rogue said to Jubilee as she sat up on her bed, "I guess I'd better follow Kitty's example and get up too. After I get finished training with Logan, I have another therapy session scheduled with the Professor this afternoon.

"Is the Professor helping you learn how to control your powers any better?" Kitty asked her.

"Yeah, he's gotten me to where I can touch someone for almost a minute, but any longer than that is too much of a strain for me right now. He said that it's just going to take time for me to be able to control them on my own." Rogue replied, "I'm just glad that at least it gives me something to look forward to."

"Well, send Wolvie and the Professor my regards. I'm going roller-blading with Theresa, you want to join us Kitty?" Jubilee asked her.

"Maybe later, I have some homework that I have to finish first." Kitty said as she got up from Rogue's bed.

"Okay, catch ya later." Jubilee replied as Kitty left the bedroom.

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Next chapter: The all new, all different Brotherhood…


	6. The Brotherhood Gets Turned Loose

A/N: Thanks to SperryDee for your reviews, they are very much appreciated.

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The weeks came and went. While the students at Xavier's School for the Gifted trained and prepared themselves to defend a world that seemed to fear and hate them a little more each day, there were those mutants that were preparing for the exact opposite, liking the idea of a world that fears them.

The Scene:  A helicopter approaches Bronson Federal Penitentiary in the dead of night, somehow its guards are unaware of the craft's approach until it is almost above them.

"Alright, Boomer. Give those time-bombs of yours a go."

With those words, the teenaged girl named Tabitha Smith creates a succession of time-controlled plasma bombs one right after another in her hands. She then drops them from the helicopter, which has had some major modifications to it since it disappeared from Alkali Lake a few months ago.

"The coast is clear now. I've taken care of the watchtower and the guards that were outside, the rest is up to you guys." Boomer replied.

With that the helicopter, which had managed to shield itself from being detected by the prison's exterior sensors, lands in the prison yard just outside of Bronson's main entrance. Four of its occupants then head from the chopper to the large prison complex, while the helicopter takes off for cover nearby.

"Do you think it was smart to leave Boomer, Bevatron, and Destiny in the helicopter by themselves?" Pyro asked.

"They can handle themselves, our training for this mission should've proven that." Avalanche replied.

"If they were that prepared, then they would be here with us." Empath sneered.

"They're our back-up, in the slight chance that we run into any problems." Mystique replied as they neared the door, "Now, Avalanche make an entrance for us."

With no response and less than a thought, Avalanche used the seismic radiation that his body generated to turn the large steel door at the front of the prison into metallic dust.

"We're in." Avalanche stated as he walked first into the prison.

"Pyro, use your flames to deter any guards who may consider following us." Mystique ordered him.

Pyro granted Mystique her request and created a bird made of fire using the two flamethrowers attached to his wrists, which were being fed fuel from a pack that was strapped to his back. The bird he created was large enough to cover the entrance to the prison and it remained there long enough to discourage any pursuers. It disappeared, however, when Pyro left the entrance to catch up with the others.

"I'll take care of any guards who didn't get to see Pyro's little exhibition." Empath offered as they continued their trek. He proceeded to use his telepathic powers, increasing the sense of fear and panic that the prison's guards and the other staff already felt.

The group then walked down the corridors of the prison, uninterrupted. Mystique directed them using the miniature mutant detector she was carrying, as they sought out one cell in particular.

"This guy really worth all of this trouble?" Avalanche asked Mystique.

"I'll let you be the judge of that." Mystique replied as they continued walking.

They could hear the echoes from the prisoners throughout the facility, as chaos in the prison erupted. When Boomer hit the strategic points in the prison earlier, some of the cell-blocks had completely lost power. This meant that the prisoners were able to roam about freely. While the prison riot continued, the group finally arrived at the cell which held the individual they had been searching for.

"This is it. Avalanche, take care of the door." Mystique instructed him

Avalanche proceeded to hit the door with his power, totally demolishing it. The group then heard a voice from inside the cell speak to them.

"Well, well, well, look who came to bust me outta the pen. This could only be the work of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, back ta claim one of their own." The voice said to them.

"Blob, we don't have time for your long-winded observations. Get up and let's go." Mystique told him, while they all started back down the corridor that led to the prison's main entrance.

"What's the matter? You act like you haven't missed me all of this time I been locked up." Blob replied with a smug smile.

"If it were up to me, you would have been left here to rot. But, Magneto seems to still have some use for you, despite your previous bungling and failures." Mystique said to him as they neared the entrance.

"Speakin' of the past, I don't recognize none of your friends. Where are Unus and the others?" Blob asked her.

"You have been locked up for a while. The team line-up has changed a few times while you've been incarcerated. These are the Brotherhood's newest recruits." Mystique started to explain. But, she was interrupted by Destiny over her communicator.

"Mystique…" Destiny said over the communicator.

"Go ahead." Mystique replied as she listened intensely to her headset.

"The guards that evacuated upon your entry have regrouped with local law enforcement outside of the prison. All immediate timelines point to an easier departure if you leave at the building's south entrance." Destiny informed her.

"Let's find the south entrance to the prison." Mystique said as she turned to head away from the main entrance.

"It's this way." Blob pointed as he led the rest of the Brotherhood to the southern end of the prison complex. Once outside, the Brotherhood ran into a small cadre of local law enforcement.

"Stop, drop your weapons, and lie on the ground!" One of the officers called out to them over his megaphone.

"No, you can lie down. And stay down." Avalanche said as he used his power to shake the ground beneath the police force, burying some of them in a mound of shattered earth. The officers, that were still standing, began to fire their guns at the mutants. Mystique and Empath, who were carrying weapons of their own fired back, killing a couple of the officers and wounding several others. The Blob picked up a large section of a wall that had been knocked down during Boomer's earlier bombing raid. He threw it at the police and smashed a number of their squad cars. Pyro then used his flamethrower to clear a path through the police force for their escape from the prison yard.

"Pyro-2, Cops-0." Pyro said as he walked past the injured officers.

The helicopter, piloted by Boomer and Bevatron, descended to an open area where the Brotherhood was waiting for them. The craft then took off, leaving a massive swath of destruction behind.

"Glad to see you made out of there in one piece, Cutie Pie." Boomer said as she greeted one member of the Brotherhood whom had been on her mind the entire mission.

"Me too." Pyro replied as he got aboard. He then leaned over and kissed Boomer, as the helicopter began its lift-off.

"Our coordinates are set. We should be home in no time, _mes amis_." Bevatron informed them from the cockpit area.

"And where exactly are we headin', Misty?" Blob asked.

"Snow Valley, Massachusetts." Mystique answered plainly.

"What in the world's there?" Blob continued to inquire.

"Miss Frost's Academy." Boomer answered as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"I can un'erstand these five kids needin' it. But I think you, Destiny, and me are a little too old for high-school." Blob said to Mystique.

"In that case, you can feel free to get off at anytime." Mystique said back to him, referring to the fact that they were hundreds of feet in the air.

"Nah, I think I'll stick it out. If nuthin' else, to give Mags my personal thanks for bustin' me out." Blob said as he closed his eyes to get a few moments of rest.

The rest of the ride back to the Massachusetts Academy was quiet, but with the Brotherhood things didn't stay that way for too long.

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Next chapter: Tragedy strikes an X-Man…


	7. Places To Go

A/N: Special thanks to SperryDee & MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews of the last couple of chapters.

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Professor Xavier, dressed in his plain brown flightsuit, sat grimly in his Ready Room. It was a room that he had created far below the mansion as both a private workroom and as a personal refuge from the rest of the house. It was in here that, arguably, the most powerful mind on Earth was allowed to be alone with his thoughts. He watched intensely as the hi-tech video equipment in front of him displayed news and communication feeds from around the world on numerous monitors.

_"…believe that those involved in last night's prison escape were mutants themselves, one reportedly wielding a flamethrower, another able to create small earthquakes_. _Graydon Creed, chairman for the Friends of Humanity and recently announced Senatorial candidate, gave us his reaction…"_

"This is a perfect example of an administration that has failed to deal with the mutant…dilemma in an effective manner. The actions of these mutant terrorists should serve as a wake-up call to the American public about their danger to national, as well as, global security..."

_"Senator Kelly, who in recent months has become an unexpected advocate for mutant rights, could not be reached for comment…"_

Professor Xavier continued watching coverage of the prison escape of one of the original X-Men's oldest foes. He also paid close attention to the eyewitness accounts, stating that one of the participants in the escape seemed able to control fire by sheer thought. He knew of only a handful of individuals with that particular talent, one being a former student of his. Xavier remembered the difficulty that he had felt himself when Eric Lensherr, the man who had helped him build his School for the Gifted, first faced him as an enemy. He knew a day was fast approaching when his students would be placed in a similar situation. As his thoughts continued to drift through days long past and days yet to come, an alert flashed across several of the monitors in the Ready Room. It seemed a part of the past had arrived on the front doorsteps of the school.

"Computer, continue to archive feeds 2-6, 13, 18-24, 27 and 33-35." The Professor said as he turned to wheel out of the Ready Room and towards the elevator that would take him to the mansion's first floor.

"Request processed, archival sequence 03146 initiated." The automated voice responded.

"I was beginning to wonder if the cordial invitation to converse with you in your home had been revoked." A solidly-built man in his late 20's said to the Professor as he wheeled into the living room. The almost middle-aged gentleman had been talking with Kurt, Jubilee, and Dani, who had run into him on their way to a game of softball.

"Hank, you don't need an invitation. This is as much your home now as it has always been." Xavier replied.

"It makes this prodigal son realize that the person who said 'You can't go home again', has never spent any significant time in Westchester County." Dr. Henry McCoy, successful scientist and founding member of the X-Men, replied.

"Hi Professor. We were just on our way outside to play a game of softball when Dr. McCoy rang the doorbell. Dr. McCoy, you were telling us that you were one of the original students at this school?" Dani asked him, continuing the conversation that they were having before the Professor arrived.

"Indeed, my inquisitive young friend. But back then they didn't call me Dr. Henry McCoy. I was known simply as Hank or by my more descriptive nickname, the Beast. I would rather you call my either of those two names, Dr. McCoy makes me feel like I'm still at work in the laboratory." Hank replied.

"I think I've seen some pictures of you and the older X-Men around here." Jubilee said to him.

"I hate to interrupt, especially when my students actually seem eager to learn about the history of this institution, but Hank and I have some urgent business that we need to discuss. I am sure he will be more than happy to answer all of your questions later at dinner." Xavier said as he looked at Hank, "You will be staying, of course?"

"You make it sounds like an offer that I can't refuse!" Hank joked as he and the Professor walked towards the elevator.

"It was nice meeting you Herr Hank." Kurt said as the two men started to depart.

"We had better hurry if we want to make it to the field before they pick teams." Dani said as she stood up.

Last one there is a rotten egg." Jubilee said as they got up to join the rest of the students that were gathering to play softball on a warm spring day.

"It will not be me, Liebchen." Kurt Wagner smiled as he prepared to teleport himself out of the mansion.

"No, wait Kurt, don't." Jubilee said as she tried to stop Kurt, but she was too late. All that was left in the living room was a cloud of smoke and the sulfuric stench that was the trademark of Kurt's instantaneous departure.

"I guess we're the rotten eggs, or at least that's the way it smells in here." Dani said as she held her nose.

"Whatever. Just open the door so I can get some fresh air." Jubilee said as she and Dani walked outside.

Hank, who was still in earshot of Kurt and the girls, made a comment as the elevator arrived.

"They remind me so much of when Scott, Jean, Ororo, Warren, and I were their age living here. My sense of nostalgia seems to keep growing the longer that I stand in these hallowed halls." Hank told the Professor.

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Professor Xavier smiled, as the elevator doors closed and began its descent to the lower levels.

While the students, plus Kurt and Logan, gathered to play on the baseball field of the estate, Professor Xavier and Hank continued their journey below the grounds of the estate. They were going to meet with another former resident of the school who had been working on Cerebro, or what was left of it, for nearly half of the night.

"So Professor, you said that you needed to talk with me about a matter of urgent importance." Hank asked him.

"Yes, I have a very large favor to ask of you." The Professor replied.

"Then it sounds to be of gargantuan proportions." Hank stated as they got off of the elevator and walked down the corridor.

"I am planning a trip to Muir Island to visit an old friend, Dr. Moira MacTaggert, and I intend to be gone for a few weeks. I will also be taking a student along with me, Theresa, the daughter of our old friend Sean Cassidy. He asked if I would bring her along so that they can spend some time together. Ororo has been tending to some personal business in Africa and will be rendezvousing on the island with us as well." The Professor then paused, "I was hoping that you wouldn't mind staying here and acting as temporary headmaster of this school in my absence."

"It would be an honor, but why me?" Hank asked him.

"Scott is on a temporary leave of absence visiting with Alex and Lorna. And Logan has been hinting that he intends to leave soon, to continue to try and unravel the mystery of his past. With everybody gone from the mansion, I want to leave this school in good hands and I know that you are more than capable of carrying on in my place." Xavier told him.

"Logan?" Hank said as he thought for a moment, "Oh yes, the interesting individual that arrived here some months ago."

"Interesting is one way of putting it. But he is a good man and I want to do everything in my power to try and help him." Professor Xavier added as they finally reached the chamber that contained the gutted remains of Cerebro. As the door opened, Hank and the Professor saw a man hard at work, mustering every bit of ability from his mutant gift.

"Forge, it has been too long since we've seen one another, my mechanically inclined friend." Hank said as he greeted an old ally of the X-Men.

"Good to see you too, Beast. But after spending the last 12 hours in this room, I finally remembered why I avoid your school reunions. Charles, those soldiers that came in here certainly did a number on Cerebro. It seems like they tried their best to damage the parts that they didn't bother to take with them." Forge replied as he continued piecing together components of the main console, "It may take me longer to repair this unit than I had originally anticipated."

"Whatever help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated old friend." Professor Xavier said to him.

"Speaking of old acquaintances, I assume that you saw the news reports this morning." Hank said to the Professor.

"Indeed I did." He replied.

"I've been cooped up in here, what's happened?" Forge asked while he continued to work.

"Somebody, or somebodies I should say, broke Frederick Dukes out of prison last night." Hank said.

"The Blob? That's a name I haven't thought of in a long time." Forge said as he stopped to take a short break, "Any idea who was behind it?"

"I suspect Magneto is involved." Professor Xavier said.

"Do you think he's up to something major?" Forge asked.

"At this point I'm not sure, but it's been our experience that Eric always has something major in mind." Professor Xavier stated.

"Then more reason to get this unit back together as soon as possible." Forge said as he turned to get back to work.

"Hank and I will give you a hand." Professor Xavier said as the three men started working, in an attempt to get the Cerebro unit functional again.

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Meanwhile at the baseball field on the grounds of the estate…

"Batter up!"

With that Roberto Dacosta, aka Sunspot, walked up to home plate, bat in hand. He was definitely ready to hit a home run this day.

"Remember 'Berto, no usin' your powers so ya can hit the ball halfway across the state." Sam Guthrie, aka Cannonball, said to him from the pitcher's mound.

"I don't need my powers to hit a homerun, especially with the way that you pitch my friend." Roberto replied, trying to get under Sam's skin.

"If you two would quit runnin' your mouths long enough, we might actually finish an inning or two. So let's play ball!" Logan, who had been designated as an umpire along with Kurt, instructed them.

Sam threw the first pitch with all of the strength that he could muster.

"Strike one!" Logan called out as Roberto swung and missed.

"It's alright, you get two more chances. Just don't waste them." Bobby said to Roberto from the catcher's position.

"Don't let them psyche you out Roberto, you can do it!" Theresa told him from the dugout area.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Rogue added, also trying to encourage her teammate from the bench.

"I will only need one more chance." Roberto thought to himself as he got into a hitting stance at the plate.

Sam wound up and pitched the softball, and Roberto put all of his focus and strength behind his swing. The next sound heard was the crack of the bat as the ball went flying past the properties boundary line.

"Man, Randall's gonna be chasing that ball until sunset." Dani said, referring to her teammate who was left with the task of retrieving the ball.

As Roberto rounded the bases, his teammates began cheering loudly for him. But they hardly noticed as one of the other players out in left field suddenly dropped his equipment and started heading towards the mansion. There was one player, however, that did notice.

"Where are you going Peter?" Kitty asked him as he passed by her on third base.

"The Professor spoke to me telepathically. He told me not to delay and to come to the mansion immediately." Peter replied, unsure of why he was being summoned, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

"Okay." Kitty replied as she saw Peter walk off into the distance.

The game continued and the team that Rogue, Roberto, and Theresa were on ended up winning. But winning or losing was the last thing on Kitty 's mind as she walked back to the mansion after the game.

"What's the matter?" Rogue asked as she caught up to Kitty, who had a concerned look on her face.

"The Professor called Peter to the mansion during the game a couple of hours ago. But Peter hasn't come back." Kitty told her.

"Maybe the Professor had some special training session that he needed Peter to run through." Rogue guessed.

"Yeah, maybe." Kitty replied, her concern far from diminished.

When they arrived back at the mansion, Kitty headed straight for the Professor's office. She hoped that he was there and not in some other part of the mansion. She knocked at his office door and waited.

"Professor, are you in there?" Kitty asked.

"Yes Kitty, please come in." Xavier answered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I just came to see if Peter was still in here?" Kitty asked him as she opened the door.

"There's no need to apologize, I am actually glad that you came here. I'm afraid that I have some bad news." The Professor started.

"Um, what kind of bad news?" Kitty inquired, worried about what the answer might be.

"Peter has had a death in his family. I received a call this afternoon that his older brother has died." Xavier told her.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Kitty inquired.

"He was a Russian astronaut and was flying an experimental space craft, when it exploded right after leaving Earth's atmosphere." He continued.

"Peter must be crushed. Where is he, I want to make sure he's okay?" Kitty asked him.

The Professor did a mind scan of the estate and located Peter Rasputin within a matter of seconds.

"He is still out by the Lake." Xavier told Kitty as she hurried out of the office, phasing through the door.

Kitty hurried out to the Lake and arrived just as the sun was setting. She could see Peter sitting on the grass, leaning up against a tree that was near the Lake's edge. Kitty saw a completely emotionless look on Peter's face as he stared out at the water. So she slowly walked up and sat down next to him.

"Peter," Kitty started, "the Professor told me about what happened to your brother. I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry and I wanted to see if there was anything that I can get you."

"Thank you, but I think I'll just sit out here for a while." Peter replied, not looking at Kitty. Instead, he continued to stare out at the Lake.

"Okay, well…uh, I'll let you be alone for a while." Kitty said in a soft voice as she started to get back up.

"Katya, you don't have to leave." Peter said, still staring at the Lake.

"Are you sure?" Kitty asked as she knelt back down next to him.

"I would really like it if you would stay with me." Peter said, as he finally looked Kitty directly in her eyes. She could see the pain in his eyes as he looked at her for a moment and then turned his gaze back to the Lake.

"Okay," Kitty agreed as she sat back down, "You told me that your brother was in the military, but I didn't know he was an astronaut?"

"Yes, it was his dream to become one ever since we were children. He wanted to be the first Russian to walk on the moon." Peter revealed, "It is the only thing that makes it all a little easier, knowing that he died doing something that he loved so much."

Peter was never one to really express his emotions openly. Kitty could see that despite his words and him trying to hold his feelings back, that tears had started to roll down Peter's face. She didn't know what words she could say to make things better, or if those words even existed. So she did what came naturally to her, she put her arms around his large torso and rested her head against his shoulder. Peter put one of her hands into his and they both sat there, staring at the beautiful reflection on the water's surface as a result of the sun's red rays. It was the kind of scene that Peter would normally put down on canvas without hesitation, but right now, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

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Next Chapter: From Siberia with Love…


	8. What's in a Name?

A/N: Special Thanks to emicablue, Independent Fire, punkcatwitissues, MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews of the last chapter.

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The next few days seemed to fly by. Well, to everybody except for Peter. For him, it seemed like it was an eternity. In some ways it felt like a dream, or more accurately, like a nightmare. As he sat in his room, he thought about all of the wonderful memories that he had of him and his brother when they were younger, living in the Ust-Ordynski region of Siberia. Life seemed so simple then. The anxiety he felt over having to go home to say goodbye to Mikhail was almost unbearable. Compounding that was the fact that they had a little sister, Illyana. She was born after Mikhail had left to join the military. Now, she would never get to really know Mikhail, to have him tell her a story and make it come to life in a way nobody else could. The only thing that seemed to bring a sense of calm over Peter was the fact that Kitty would be going with him. Peter had asked Professor Xavier if Kitty could join them, and the Professor had given his approval. They, plus Theresa, would all be traveling to Peter's home village. As he laid on his bed thinking about everything, Peter felt a presence at his bedroom door.

"Petey, I've been trying to get my stuff together, but I'm not sure what to pack. What is Siberia like this time of year?" Kitty asked as she stood in the doorway of his room.

"It's early spring now and everything should be thawing out from winter's freezing grip. I'd say the temperature might actually make it into double-digit degrees." Peter replied as he looked at Kitty from his bed.

"Ouch! And I thought Chicago winters were rough. Well I definitely don't need to worry about accessorizing my swimwear. Anyways, I need to finish getting my luggage together, so I'll catch you later in the rec room." Kitty said as she started to walk back towards the girls' wing of the dormitory.

"Kitty…" Peter said before Kitty was out of hearing distance.

"What's up?" Kitty asked as she peeked back around the corner of the doorframe.

"In case I haven't told you before I just wanted to say thank you, Katya, for helping me through such a rough time in the last few days." Peter told her.

"Sure, no problem." Kitty replied as she stood and looked at Peter for a moment and then left for her room.

In all honesty, Kitty didn't have to say anything back to him, her smile could have done all of her talking for her. Every time that Peter called Kitty by her new nickname, Katya, she felt a bolt of pure electricity go through her. It wasn't because of the name itself, but because of the way that Peter said it with such affection in his voice. Since he never really expressed his emotions to the rest of the world, most of the students had assumed that Peter had a heart of stone, to go along with his cold, iron body. But after spending countless hours talking with him, Kitty couldn't believe how warm and passionate Peter really was. They had become so close over the last few weeks that Kitty felt like their relationship was getting a lot more serious. Her new feelings both scared and excited her, all at the same time.

While two of the X-Men-to-be were preparing for a trip halfway around the world, the other three were having a meeting with Professor Xavier in his study.

"Professor, you said you wanted ta see us?" Rogue asked as she, Bobby, and Jubilee walked into the room.

"Yes, I did. I wanted to introduce you to the school's interim Headmaster, Dr. Henry McCoy. Or Hank, as he would prefer that you call him. He will be in charge of this institution while I am gone." Professor Xavier said from behind his desk.

Hank then stood up from the chair that he had been seated in.

"I met Jubilee and Robert during my previous visit. I assume that you must be Marie." Hank said as he reached out and shook her gloved hand.

"Hi. Everybody around here just calls me Rogue. Ah'm sorry about missing you the other day, Logan and me were training downstairs and we kinda lost track of time." Rogue replied.

"Yeah, big surprise there." Bobby muttered to himself.

"I called you in here because you are three of the oldest students here. I would greatly appreciate it if you helped Hank around here. This place can certainly be overwhelming, even to me at times." Professor Xavier said to his students.

The three students all nodded in agreement to help out.

"Professor, you make it sound as though running this school is like facing the Juggernaut single-handedly." Hank laughed.

"Just don't say that I didn't warn you." Professor Xavier replied.

As Rogue, Bobby and Jubilee were leaving the Professor's study following their meeting, Kurt Wagner came up to them.

"What's up Kurt?" Rogue asked him.

"Jubilee, there is a phone call for you." Kurt replied.

"Thanks, Elf. I'll get it in the kitchen." Jubilee said as she hurried down the hallway.

As Jubilee made it into the kitchen, she had little doubt in her mind as to who had telephoned her.

"It's your quarter and a half." Jubilee said as she picked up the receiver.

"Hi Jubilee, it's me Doug." Doug Ramsey said to her.

"Hi 'it's-you-Doug'. So, what's the latest?" Jubilee asked him.

Ever since the night that Doug had come to the aid of Jubilee, Bobby, and Rogue at the Salem Shopping Center, he and Jubilee had been constantly talking on the phone with one another. They had also been going out together, either to the movies or just to spend time hanging out with each other. Despite the fact that Doug and Jubilee had almost totally opposite personalities, they seemed to mesh and get along extremely well.

"I just called to see if you'd be interested in going to the Allison Blaire concert this Friday Night?" Doug asked her.

"Allison Blaire! But I thought Madison Square Garden sold that concert out weeks ago?" Jubilee inquired.

"I know a couple of guys that had gotten tickets, but their girlfriends cancelled out on them at the last minute. So they made me a great deal on their tickets. I bought a pair of tickets for you and me, but the other guy still has a pair that he wants to get rid of quickly. None of these are front row seats, but they're still pretty decent. Do you think Kitty & Peter or Rogue & Bobby might be interested?" Doug asked her.

"Well, Peter had a death in his family. So he and Kitty are getting ready to leave for Russia tomorrow. But I can ask Rogue & Bobby and see if they're interested." Jubilee told him.

"All right, just get back to me as soon as possible." Doug paused for a moment, "I guess then I'll see you Friday Night, I'll pick you up around seven." Doug said to her.

"See ya then." Jubilee said as she hung up the phone.

Doug hung up the phone in the family room of his house. He started to get up to work on his homework, when his father walked into the room.

"Sounds like you got yourself a date for Friday Night." Mr. Ramsey said as he sat down on the sofa with his son.

"Yeah, me and Jubilee are going to see Allison Blaire perform at MSG. Is it alright if I borrow the car?" Doug asked his father.

"Sure, the car's no problem. But I think that we need to talk about Jubilee." His father said to him.

"What about her?" Doug asked.

"Well, we've met her and your mother and I think that she's a sweetheart. But we've been hearing things about that school that she goes to." Mr. Ramsey answered.

"What are you getting at Dad?" Doug wanted to know.

"We just don't want you putting yourself in a dangerous situation." Mr. Ramsey said.

"You mean because she's a mutant. Go ahead and say it, that's what this is really all about. You want me to stop seeing her just because she's a little different. I never would have expected you to have that kind of attitude." Doug said with disappointment in his voice.

"Hold on, I never said that we wanted you to stop seeing her. I just want you to be aware of how the rest of the world is starting to feel towards them and how they might start looking at you for being around her." Mr. Ramsey told him.

"Dad I am aware. I see the news and the protests and the speeches. And I know how a lot of people feel, but I'm not going to let them dictate who I'm friends with." Doug told his Dad.

"All right, you've made your point, sport. You two have a good time, but just promise me that you'll be careful." Mr. Ramsey said as he put his arm around his son.

"Don't I always." Doug replied as he got up to go to his room.

The following morning, some of the students at Xavier's school woke up and looked outside from their bedroom windows. They watched as a one-of-a-kind modified Blackbird spy plane emerged from beneath the basketball court and lifted off with four of their own inside, heading towards the west coast of the United States and then beyond.

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Next Chapter: Kitty in a new land & Rogue's Heartbreak…


	9. Goodbye Salem Center, part 1

A/N: Special thanks to MoonlightPhoenix3 & SperryDee for reviewing my last chapter.

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It was early in the evening. Rogue and Jubilee were sitting in the room that they shared together, busy talking about the upcoming Allison Blaire concert that Doug Ramsey had invited them to.

"I still say you should go with Doug 'n me tomorrow night, even if 'Ice-Cubes-For-Brains' says he doesn't want to go." Jubilee said to Rogue as she went through the wardrobe in her closet. Rogue looked up from the fashion magazine she was thumbing through as she sat on her bed.

"I think Ah might. I told him it would probably be good to get out and have some fun together for a change, but he said he didn't feel like it," Rogue revealed as she walked over and sat down on Jubilee's bed, "Ever since that night at the mall, he never feels like doing much of anything. I'll bet'cha that he's locked in his room right now, moping as usual."

Jubilee also had noticed that Bobby had been withdrawing himself from the rest of the group.

"Then you should ask him, point-blank, what his damage is. Whatever's wrong with him isn't gonna get solved by him shutting out the rest of the world." Jubilee said.

"I think we both need to sit down and just have a talk about everything that's been going on lately." Rogue said as she got up to go to Boys' wing of the dormitory, "I'll be back in a little while."

As Rogue walked into a central area in the mansion that separated the two wings, she ran into the one person that she regarded as a friend, mentor, and somewhat of a father figure, all rolled into one.

"Logan, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Rogue asked him as they both stopped for a moment.

"Out to the garage, to finish some work I've been doing on Summer's bike. I wanted to get it done before I cut outta here." Logan replied. He saw the expression on Rogue's face change from somewhat cheerful to considerably less than that.

"Oh. You're still leaving then?" She replied, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Yeah, I got a flight leavin' late tonight." Logan told her.

"Where are you going?" Rogue asked him.

"To the Far East. After Chuck picked at my brain for a while, I remembered spending some time there, a long time ago. I'm going to start in Japan and see what other clues I can dig up there." Logan said.

"So, um…do you know how long you'll be gone?" Rogue inquired.

"I'm not sure." Logan answered as honestly as he could.

"You make it sound like you won't comin' back for a while." Rogue said as she looked down at the floor.

"Don't worry darlin'. This trip is gonna be longer than my last one up north, but I promise I won't be gone for too long. I got ties here now." Logan said as he hugged Rogue.

"You'd better." Rogue replied as she looked up at Logan with a smile on her face, her mind now at ease.

"So, where are you going young lady?" Logan asked, inquiring about her trip to the boys' dorm.

"There's something really important that I need to talk about with Bobby." Rogue explained.

"Well, give my regards to the Popsicle." Logan said with a smirk as he continued his journey downstairs to the garage.

Rogue walked over to the other side of the central area and entered the boys' corridor. As Rogue walked past some of the rooms, she saw one of the younger students, a New Mutant as some of the older students called the younger ones, in the hallway coming towards her.

"Rictor, do you know if Bobby's in his room?" Rogue asked him.

"How would I know, I'm not psychic." Julio Esteban Richter, aka Rictor, replied as he continued past her.

"Thanks." Rogue said sarcastically.

"Rogue, I think I heard Bobby go in his room earlier." Another one of the younger students, James Proudstar aka Warpath, told her as he sat meditating on his bed in his room next to Bobby's.

His older brother John had been a student at Xavier's also, and had fought alongside the X-men for a time. But John's heart eventually led him to leave Xavier's school, so that he could go back to Arizona to help their people on the reservation.

"Thank you, James." Rogue responded.

Finally, Rogue stood in front of Bobby's door, unsure if she wanted to go through with it. But she made her decision, and then knocked on his door.

"Who is it?" She heard from inside the room.

"It's me." Rogue replied.

The door opened and Bobby appeared in front of her at the doorway.

"What's up?" Bobby asked her.

"Can I come in?" Rogue asked in response.

"Oh…uh, yeah, of course." Bobby said as he led Rogue into his room. As they both sat down on his bed, Rogue looked over at the other bed in the room. It was the one that used to belong to John Allerdyce, and she noticed that it was still vacant. Most of John's things were still where he had left them on his side of the room, almost like Bobby was expecting him to come back. She also noticed that the picture that Bobby kept of him and his family on his dresser, was now gone.

"I think we need to talk Bobby." Rogue said to him.

"About what?" Bobby asked her.

"About what's going on with you." She stated.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You've been acting…different lately." She said.

"It's just some stuff I've been trying to work through is all."

"Like, what kind of stuff?" Rogue inquired, "Maybe I can help?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Bobby told her.

"Or maybe you just don't want to talk about it with me?" Rogue wondered out loud.

"C'mon Rogue, I don't want to start a fight with you." Bobby said as he looked at her.

"I don't want to fight either, but something's been seriously wrong between us lately. I just want to know what it is." Rogue told him.

Bobby took hold of Rogue's hand, which was covered with her almost trademark glove, and looked at her nervously. Rogue could tell that he wanted to say something, but seemed at a loss for words.

"Rogue, there's something I've been wanting tell you for a while, but there's…no easy way to say it." He said with a serious look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Rogue asked him.

"Things between us have felt different to me too. Everything just seems so complicated." Bobby paused for a moment before he spoke again, "I think we need to take a break from our relationship, just for a little while."

Rogue was stunned at what she had just heard from Bobby, from the first boy that she had ever truly fallen in love with. At first she thought that this must be some sort of a joke or trick. She looked closely at him, trying to convince herself that somehow a shape shifter must be posing as Bobby, like Mystique had done once before. She used the techniques that Logan had taught her on how to spot a shape shifter, and then Rogue realized the horrible truth. This was no imposter, this was the real Bobby.

"But why?" Rogue asked as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"I don't know, I guess we've both changed from the people that we were when you first got here." Bobby revealed.

"But my feelings haven't changed. I still love you as much as I ever did." Rogue said to him, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Rogue, I would do anything to keep from hurting you. But I don't want to pretend that I feel something that I'm not sure of and I end up hurting you even more." Bobby said as he went to try and embrace her.

"No! Don't touch me." Rogue said as she moved away from him on the bed. "But I guess that's what this is really all about. We can't do the things that normal couples do and you've gotten tired of that, and of me." Rogue said with a hint of resentment in her voice.

"That has nothing to do with it. I still care about you and I still want us to be friends." Bobby said to her, trying to calm her down. But what he hadn't realized was that he had said the three words that anyone getting dumped couldn't stand to hear.

"Friends?! I don't think I even know how to respond to that right now. Here take this, I don't want it anymore!" Rogue said, as she took off the glove from her right hand. She pulled off the promise ring that Bobby had bought her when they first started dating, and threw it at him. She then got up and ran out of his room, crying even harder than before.

Bobby sat on his bed and watched Rogue run out. He sat there, alone with his thoughts and with the doubts he felt about whether he had made the right decision regarding their future.

Rogue hurried out of the boys' dormitory and to her room on the girls' side.

"Rogue, what's the matter?" Jubilee asked her friend, who had ran straight to her bed on the other side of the room and fell down on it bawling.

"Bobby. We just…broke up." Rogue explained in between her sobs.

"What? You broke up. What happened?" Jubilee asked as she went over to Rogue's bed and sat down beside her. Jubilee tried to comfort her as best she could.

"He said that things had…changed between us and that he didn't want us to be a couple anymore." Rogue told her.

"What a jerk!" Jubilee said as she rested her head on Rogue's back, who was face down crying into her pillow, "Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright."

Rogue laid on her bed for a couple of hours. Jubilee tried to comfort her with stories of how she dealt with her own break-ups, back when she lived in California. Eventually, Rogue was able to regain her composure when she suddenly remembered something that she had to do.

"I need to see Logan before he leaves." Rogue said to Jubilee as she sat up on her bed and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes.

"Do you need me to go with?" Jubilee asked her.

"Thank you Jube, but I think Ah'll be fine." Rogue replied as she got up and put on a dark green leather jacket and headed out of the bedroom.

Rogue walked out into the cool night air and headed towards the garage, where all of the cars and other vehicles were stored. As she entered the building, she saw Logan finishing up work on Scott's bike. He had borrowed it from Scott so much, that he might as well have started calling it his own.

"Looks pretty good." Rogue said as she walked up behind him.

"Oh, hey kid. Yeah, it's not too bad if I say so myself. So, what're you doin' out here?" Logan asked, as he was still bent down in front of the bike with his back turned to Rogue.

"I just came to tell you goodbye before you left, I know you'll be heading out pretty soon." Rogue said to him, but her voice faltered as she fought to hold back more tears. Right now, she felt like everybody was leaving and heading in a direction away from her. Logan could hear in her voice that something wasn't right, so he turned around to see a young girl that looked like she had been crying for days on end.

"What's the matter, Marie? I told you earlier that I was coming back when I got through takin' care of things." Logan said as he looked at Rogue.

"It's not that. Me and Bobby…we had a fight." Rogue said as she fought even harder to hold back more tears that she thought were all but gone.

"What were you two fighting about to get you this upset?" Logan continued to inquire.

"I was asking Bobby about what was wrong with him. He said that he didn't feel the same way about me anymore and…we broke up!" Rogue revealed, as she couldn't hold her tears back anymore.

Logan sat Rogue down on the seat of the bike he had been working on. He went over and grabbed a clean towel for her to dry her eyes with.

"Do you want me to go and have a talk with him?" Logan smirked as he popped the claws out of one of his hands, in an attempt to try and cheer her up.

"No, Logan don't, that won't change anything. You can't make somebody love you when they don't." Rogue said to him.

"I know it doesn't seem like it now, but take it from somebody's who's loved and lost more times 'n he can remember. The hurt'll eventually go away, it just takes time." Logan said as Rogue finally stopped crying.

"I know, it's just getting to that point that's so hard." Rogue replied, "Logan, I don't know what Ah'm going to do?"

Logan was becoming more concerned about Rogue, it seemed like her life was coming down all around her. He wondered whether in his absence and with her and Bobby having problems, if Rogue would run away like she had done before?

"Listen, Rogue. If you get your gear together, there's room for one more on this bike," Logan said as he offered her a chance to travel with him, "That is, if you're interested."

"Wow, sure I am." Rogue replied. She stopped crying and her face seemed to light up.

"Go get packed and get the passport Xavier had issued to you. I'm gonna get my things and tell McCoy that you're comin' with me. We'll meet back here in an hour, alright?" Logan told her.

"Okay." Rogue confirmed with him.

Rogue hurried back to her room and packed at a feverish pace. Jubilee helped her and then they sat and talked for a moment.

"You sure that you want to head half-way around the world?" Jubilee asked her.

"Yeah, I think it'll do me some good to get away for a while. It'll give me a chance to clear my head and decide how I feel about Bobby now." Rogue replied.

"Okay, just promise me that you'll call as soon as you get there. You have my cell number, right?" Jubilee said to her.

"Uh-Huh." Rogue said as she stood up, "Well, I'd better get downstairs. Me and Logan have to get to the airport and get checked in."

Rogue and Jubilee hugged each other for quite a while. Then Jubilee spoke again.

"Look I don't do that crying thing, so all I'm gonna say is that we'll hook up when you and Wolvie get back." Jubilee said as she sat back down on her bed.

"All right, I'll see you." Rogue said as she grabbed her bags and headed for the door before her emotions took over again.

"Yeah, I don't do that crying thing." Jubilee said to herself. But, Jubilee's pillow told a completely different story, as she thought about one best friend that was leaving and the other one that had already left to comfort Peter.

While the two girls were talking in their room, Logan had grabbed his bag and headed to the lab below the school, where Henry McCoy was busy working on his latest project.

"McCoy, sorry to interrupt scientific progress and all, but I need to talk to you for a minute." Logan said as he walked inside of the lab.

"No apologies are necessary my good man. I'm just continuing some research that I started with a colleague of mine on unstable molecules. I tell you, the potential that they possess is fascinating." Hank told him.

"I'm sure. Look, I'm getting ready to hit the road, but I wanted to let you know that Rogue's going with me." Logan said, "She said that she wanted to do some sightseeing in Japan."

"Studying abroad, what a wonderful idea. Logan, you have my permission." Hank replied.

"I wasn't asking for it, but thanks anyways." Logan said as he left the lab and headed for the garage.

Hank watched him leave and just smiled at Logan's statement. He then turned his attention back to his work.

Finally, Logan and Rogue met at the garage.

"Here, put this on." Logan said as he handed Rogue a helmet.

"Where's yours at?" Rogue replied as she put the helmet on.

Logan just looked at her as Rogue realized what she had said to a man that healed in minutes from gunshots to the head. Logan then started up the bike.

"You ready?" Logan asked her.

"As ready as I'm ever gonna be." Rogue replied.

With that, Rogue and Wolverine set off for whatever new adventure awaited them.

A/N: Rogue and Wolverine's story continues in a separate fanfic I'm writing, Land of the Silver Sun, coming soon!

Next chapter: Professor X, Kitty, Peter and Theresa arrive in Russia in 'Goodbye Salem Center, part 2'.


	10. Goodbye Salem Center, part 2

A/N: Special thanks to MoonlightPhoenix3, Lucas'sgirl, SperryDee, Independent Fire   & Roguestar for your reviews of the last chapter.

(And yes MP3, I'll use 'Cahoots' at some point before I finish this story, I promise!)

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Streaking across the Pacific Ocean towards the Arctic Circle, a modified Blackbird spy plane shuttled its passengers towards a small village in the Ust-Ordynski farming region of Siberia. Professor Charles Xavier sat at its helm, but as advanced as the plane looked, one might think that it could quite possible fly itself. The other three occupants of the plane, Theresa Cassidy, Peter Rasputin, and Katherine Pryde, all sat in the cabin area engaged in conversation amongst themselves.

"Geez, Siryn, can't you sit still for a minute?" Kitty said to Theresa, who was exploring the cabin area of the Blackbird.

"Well, excuse me. I can't help it if I'm a wee bit curious about what's actually inside of here." Theresa replied as she sat back down in her seat, "Just because yuir a big shot X-Man that gets to fly this thing and have already had the grand tour before, don't assume the rest of us 'X-babies' have. Yeah, we know about the names you've been callin' us."

"Kitty, it looks like you and Jubilee are going to have to spend another whole weekend coming up with secret nicknames for the New Mutants." Peter smirked, as he continued drawing on a sketchpad that he had brought with him.

Kitty then turned her attention from Theresa to Peter, who was sitting in the seat next to her.

"I don't believe it, the Tin Man actually made a joke. I guess I'd better write the date and time down, for posterity's sake." Kitty said as she lightly jabbed Peter in the arm with her fist. Peter just smiled and kept his eyes on the small canvas he was working with. This made Kitty curious about his current creation.

"So, what're you drawing?" Kitty asked him.

"This? I'm just putting down some random ideas that came to mind." Peter replied.

"Mind if I look?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know. They're not really good enough for public show, these sketches are just ones that I do for myself." Peter told her.

"You don't have to worry about how good they are, your artwork is always so beautiful." Kitty complimented him.

"I'm glad that you think so." Peter responded.

As they were talking, Professor Xavier telepathically called out to his students.

"Peter, please come to the cockpit for a moment. I have some questions that I need to ask you about your village."

"Yes, Professor." Peter mentally responded as he laid his sketchpad down on his seat and headed towards the front of the plane.

After Peter had left, Theresa started to tease Kitty about her feelings for Peter.

"Ohhh, Peter, you draaww so divinely." Theresa said in a mocking voice, "You're so big and strong and artistic and I'm sooo in love with you."

"God, I can't believe you're so immature!" Kitty yelled at Theresa, "That's why we call you babies, just for the way you're acting right now."

"I'm not immature, I'm just pointing out how obvious it is to everybody about how you two feel about each other." Theresa said with a grin. She then went over to Peter's seat and started thumbing through his sketchpad.

"So, what's your point 'Song-Bird'?" Kitty asked.

"My point is, are you two a couple or not?" Theresa asked her.

"We haven't really talked about it officially." Kitty answered, as she realized that Theresa was looking through Peter's sketches, "Hey, put that down!"

"Oh, don't be such a worry-wort. I just want to see what he's been drawing all of this time, I'm not gonna be messing anything up." Theresa said as she continued to look at the drawings, "Ye do have a point though, Peter is an awfully good artist. Here's a rose, and a lake, ooh a rainbow, look here's a forest, and…Now, this is interesting!" Theresa exclaimed as she stopped on one particular sketch.

"What?" Kitty asked curiously.

"Take a look for yuirself." Theresa said as she handed her the sketchpad.

Kitty took the pad and was totally stunned as she looked at a portrait of herself that Peter had drawn. In it, Kitty was wearing a Victorian-era dress and she was looking out through a window, with the sun's rays reflecting off of the glass. The inscription at the bottom of the page said, "My Beautiful Katya." For a few minutes, Kitty just sat and gazed at the artwork that she held before her.

"This is incredible. It's so beautiful, I can't believe that this is supposed to be me." Kitty said as she admired it. But all of a sudden, she quickly closed the sketchpad.

"Here, put this back on the seat, just the way you found it." Kitty ordered Theresa.

"What's the matter?" Theresa asked her.

"Don't you get it? Peter expresses himself with art, the same way a poet would with words. Going through this sketchbook is just like reading his private journal. If he finds out I was snooping through it, especially after he said he didn't really want anyone to see it, he may never forgive me." Kitty told Theresa, "You have to promise me that you won't tell him that we looked at it."

"Of course I promise, I would'nae do anything to hurt Peter intentionally." Theresa swore to Kitty. "I'll always be grateful for the way he risked his own safety, just to save me when those soldiers attacked us."

Just as the two girls were sitting back down in their seats, Peter returned to the rear of the plane.

"So what'd the Professor want?" Kitty asked as he sat down.

"To find out where the easiest area would be to land the Blackbird. I told him that most of the area is farmland, and that he could set us down on a flat area near Lake Baikal close to my home." Peter answered.

Peter then turned his attention towards Theresa.

"The Professor wanted me to ask if you had ever sat in the cockpit of the Blackbird before?" Peter asked Theresa.

"He knows that I haven't. He could have just asked me that with his mind." Theresa replied.

"The Professor could have, but he wanted me to surprise you. He said that you can sit in the co-pilot's seat for the rest of the trip. But, you have to promise not to touch any of the controls unless he gives you his permission to." Peter told her.

"All right!" Theresa said excitedly as she threw out her response with a high-pitched sonic shriek, causing Peter and Kitty to cover their ears. She also caused some of the instrument panels to temporarily short out, but Theresa hardly seemed to notice as she headed to the front of the plane.

"Guess she's excited, huh." Kitty said as she looked at Peter, who had resumed his sketching.

"It certainly sounds that way." Peter replied.

"Well, wake me when we land. I'm gonna catch up on a few Z's." Kitty said to Peter as she curled up in the chair that she was sitting in.

As Kitty drifted off to sleep, Peter grabbed his coat that was lying on an unoccupied seat, and placed it over her. After watching Kitty fall fast asleep in her chair, Peter went back to working in his notepad.

After a few more hours had passed, the Blackbird entered Russian airspace. The plane lowered its altitude and flew below the military's radar array. Finally, it landed at its destination near Lake Baikal in Siberia, late in the afternoon. As the occupants departed the plane, Theresa saw that the Professor wasn't riding in his usual wheelchair.

"Professor, when did you get that?" Theresa asked him.

"I designed this quite some time ago. It allows me better mobility on unpaved terrain, but around the mansion it seems that I rarely have use for it." Professor X replied.

As Theresa and Professor Xavier continued to talk, Kitty and Peter emerged from the Blackbird with some of their luggage.

"I wish that I could be of more help in carrying those." Professor Xavier told his students, giving them a rare glimpse into his frustration at his physical limitations.

"There's no need to apologize, Professor. As Colossus, it's no problem for me to bring everything." Peter said as he took off his coat and changed into his armored form.

"Don't worry sir, we can handle things." Kitty added.

"Thank you, Kitty." Professor Xavier said as he replied to their words of understanding, "Take this, Theresa and myself will let the Rasputins know that we have arrived."

Professor X handed Kitty a small remote device that controlled the ramp and other security features of the Blackbird.

"We will be along shortly." Colossus said as he went back up the ramp into the Blackbird.

"Then we will see you at the house." Professor Xavier told them.

"Bye guys." Theresa said as she and the Professor departed.

Kitty waited outside as Peter gathered the remaining items from the Blackbird, wondering if he could really manage to carry them all at once?

"Peter, I know you're like ten Mr. Universes all rolled into one, but can you really handle all of those things?" Kitty asked him.

"This is nothing. In the Danger Room, the Professor has tried to gauge the upper limits of my strength. He believes my ultimate potential to be considerably more than this."  Colossus answered.

"How strong are you?" Kitty asked him.

"We don't know. The equipment that he was using to test me gave out at 15 tons." Colossus revealed.

Kitty looked at him in astonishment, trying to fathom his answer in real world terms.

"I guess it really doesn't matter then?" Kitty said.

"It is information that I will eventually want to learn, but for now, I suppose it doesn't." Colossus said as he carried the last of the items from the inside of the Blackbird. He then stopped for a moment, "Lately, I have been more concerned with controlling my strength, so that I don't break something or hurt somebody in my armored form."

"Sounds like me and my phasing power." Kitty said.

"What do you mean?" Colossus asked her.

"Well, like now for instance. I'm partially phasing myself so that I don't really feel the cold air. The Professor thinks that there's alot more to my powers that we just haven't discovered yet." Kitty told him.

"It sounds like we both have much work to do then." Colossus said as he lifted the belongings together and placed them on his shoulder.

Kitty punched in the Blackbird's security codes on the remote, closing and sealing the entrance ramp. She then turned to Colossus.

"Do you think the Blackbird will be all right, out here in the woods?"

"I don't see why not. There is nothing out here but trees and the occasional forest animal." Colossus told her.

"Well, let's get going." Kitty said as she picked up Peter's coat and they started towards his house.

As they walked, Kitty marveled at Peter's homeland. The beautiful scenery seemed to go on for miles, with no end in sight. It was easy to understand how he could miss such a majestic place. As they neared the house, they heard a voice quickly running towards them.

"Piotr Nikoleivitch!" The young voice called out.

Running towards them was Peter's nine-year old sister, Illyana Rasputin.

"Is that your sister? She's so adorable." Kitty complimented.

"Yes, she is." Colossus replied as he laid their luggage and equipment down. He then changed back to his human form, so that he could give a hug to the little sister that he hadn't seen in a few years.

"I have missed you so." Illyana said to Peter as she jumped up to hug him.

"And I you. You have grown so much." Peter replied as he kissed her on the cheek.

"It's a good thing the Professor gave all of us X-Men a telepathic crash course in languages around the world, or else I'd have no idea what you two were saying." Kitty told them as she handed Peter his coat.

"Who is that?" Illyana asked Peter.

"This is my friend, Katya." Peter told her.

"Hello." Illyana said to Kitty. Illyana then turned her attention back to her brother.

"I have so much to tell you." Illyana said. She began to talk non-stop, telling Peter everything that she had wanted to say to him while he had been gone.

"Slow down. You will have time to tell me everything once we get to house." Peter said as he put Illyana back down on the ground and then converted back to Colossus. He then picked up their belongings and the trio continued towards the house.

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Next chapter: Jubilee and Doug go to the big concert, and Jubilee runs into the last person she'd expect to see there…


	11. Funny, Running into YOU Here

A/N: Thanks to Lucas'sgirl, punkcatwitissues, SperryDee, and MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews, I really do appreciate the feedback that I get from everybody.

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Jubilee sat on the floor in the center of her room, with clothes strewn around her like a hurricane had hit it.

"Two hours and counting to one of the biggest nights of my life, and I can't find a thing to wear." Jubilee thought to herself, "I could really use Rogue's advice right about now, let her pick out an outfit and then totally piss her off when I wear something completely different."

Jubilee then started to smile a little as she thought about Rogue and the last time that she asked her for advice.

"When Rogue gets upset, her southern accent definitely comes out. I can hear her now...

'_Ah swear! Ah don't know why you even bother ta ask my advice, if you're not gonna pay it any attention_.'"

Jubilee laughed to herself and continued to reminisce about their conversation before her last date with Doug. She then wondered if Rogue and Logan's flight had landed in Japan yet? She figured that it probably had and she also assumed that Kitty and the others were knee deep in Siberian snow by now. It hadn't even been a full day and Jubilee already missed both of her best friends. Just then, she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

"Anybody in here?" Bobby asked.

"What if I said no?" Jubilee quickly snapped.

"Can I come in for just a minute?" Bobby continued.

"I have a better idea, why don't you to take your head and see if it'll…never mind…door's open." Jubilee replied as Bobby opened the door.

"I didn't see you or Rogue in the library, or around the mansion today. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Bobby told her.

"Oh. Now you're concerned. Well, for your information, I was making up some Danger Room sessions that I missed last week and…" Jubilee paused for a moment, "Rogue's not here."

"I'm not blind." Bobby replied.

"More like stupid. Ass." Jubilee insulted him.

"All right, I can see I'm not your favorite person right now. Just tell me where I can find Rogue, and I'll get out of your hair." Bobby replied.

"Unless flight is some secondary mutation of yours, you and that ice slide trick you've been playin' around with, have a lotta ground to cover." Jubilee informed him.

"What're you saying?" Bobby asked.

"What I'm saying is, Rogue should be on the other side of the globe right about now." Jubilee finally revealed.

"What!? You just let her run off by herself. Why didn't you tell Hank or somebody?" Bobby shouted at her.

"Hank and somebody already knows where she is. She went with Logan to Japan." Jubilee shouted back.

"Why'd Hank let her go halfway around the world, with Logan of all people?" Bobby questioned as he sat down on Rogue's bed.

"Well, I guess because the Professor trusted Logan enough to let him take Rogue, Peter, Kitty, you and me down to South America a couple of weeks ago. He also trusted 'Mr. Adamantium 'n Attitude' enough to find and bring back that new girl Amara. As a matter of fact, you thought Logan was the coolest when he let you and Kitty pilot the Blackbird for most of the way. And, at least Logan acts like he wants Rogue around." Jubilee answered, taking a verbal jab at him with the last statement.

"Hold on, you're way off." Bobby responded.

"Oh really. So you didn't break her heart for no reason then?" Jubilee asked him.

"That's what I was trying not to do. Breaking up with Rogue was the hardest decision I've ever made. The only reason I did it was to keep from hurting her more in the long run." Bobby confessed.

"You ripped her heart out, just so you could keep from hurting her? That has got to be the lamest thing I've ever heard." Jubilee said, shaking her head.

"I didn't come in here to start a fight with you, Jubilee. I just wanted check on Rogue, and since she's not here, I'll leave you alone." Bobby replied.

"You know, the way Rogue used to talk about you, I was starting to think you were worth a girl being jealous over. Guess I was wrong." Jubilee said as she continued trying to hurt Bobby, just like she felt he had hurt Rogue.

"Maybe she does deserve better than a loser like me." Bobby replied. Then he just walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Jubilee sat there for a moment, feeling kind of bad for the way that she had just insulted Bobby.  

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While Jubilee finished getting ready, there was a knock at the front door that signaled the arrival of her date. The door was answered by one of the younger residents of the school.

"Um, hi. I'm Doug and I'm here to pick up Jubilee for our date." He said to the young boy in front of him.

"Sure. I'm Jamie, I'll go tell her that you're here." Jamie Madrox, aka The Multiple Kid, said as he led Doug into the mansion's huge living room and then took off up the stairs.

Doug usually just walked Jubilee to the front door of the mansion after their dates, so this was the first time that he had actually seen the inside of the estate. As he sat in the gigantic room, Doug didn't know what to think when Jamie, the younger teen who had just walked upstairs, came walking into the living room from an outside area of the school.

"Hey, um, Jamie." Doug said, a little bit confused as to how Jamie had made it outside from the second floor so quickly, "I thought you were going to tell Jubilee that I was here?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'll go tell her now." Jamie replied.

Doug continued to sit there, staring intensely at the bouquet of roses that he had bought for Jubilee. He had debated about whether to actually get them, since she didn't really seem like the flower type. But, he wanted to do something to show her how much he really cared for her. So he decided to go ahead and take a chance. As he continued to sit, Doug couldn't believe who he saw walk in through the front door, yet again. This time Jamie was walking with another student.

"Jamie, I thought…forget it." Doug said as he smiled in disbelief. Just as he was about to go and get somebody else to tell Jubilee that he had made it there, she suddenly appeared at the doorway. Jubilee left Doug speechless. He had always thought that she was beautiful. But, he hadn't told her because he was worried about how she would react. Looking at her tonight though, beautiful didn't even begin to describe how she looked to him.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Jubilee said to him, trying to ease the tension, "I'm serious, we have a cat here that's a recovering kleptomaniac."

"No, nothing like that. You just, uh, look…" Doug replied nervously, searching for the perfect words.

"What, do you think I should go and change? I'll be right back." Jubilee said as she started to walk back towards the stairs.

"No, wait!" Doug told her, "You look…radiant. I brought these for you, I hope that you like them."

As Doug handed her the flowers, Jubilee wasn't sure how to react. She and Doug had been out before, but with the flowers and the way that he was acting, this date felt totally different from their other ones. As Doug stood there, he expected Jubilee to make some wisecrack about the flowers. He hoped that she would at least not say anything too mean. But to his surprise, she didn't do anything like that.

"Thank you." Jubilee said as she took the roses and kissed Doug on the cheek. She watched as he started to blush, just a little.

"Um, sure, your welcome. We'd better get going, traffic's gonna be a nightmare." Doug said as he took her by the hand and they headed for the front door. As they were about to walk out of the mansion, they heard three voices behind them.

"Don't stay out too late." All three Jamie's said to them, as they stood at the top of the staircase.

"Oh, I get it now. You guys are triplets." Doug said as he thought he had finally figured out what was going on.

"Uh, yeah." Jubilee replied, unsure if she should tell Doug the truth about Jamie's power. She was just as unsure if he would even believe it.

The ride to the concert seemed to fly by. All of the radio stations were telling listeners about the pandemonium that was surrounding Madison Square Garden. Reporters from around the globe were there to cover the last stop of Allison Blaire's world tour. While on tour, her shows had broken attendance records at almost every venue. The show this evening was even being broadcast live. After finding a parking space, the couple began the long walk through the parking lot. They didn't mind though, since it gave them a chance to talk even more.

Once inside, they walked to their seats and Doug offered to go to the concession stand. Jubilee sat there and watched as one of the opening acts, an unsigned local band, began to perform. Allison herself had been discovered singing in small clubs and she liked to give newcomers a chance, hopefully giving them their big break. As the opening act continued their performance, Jubilee looked as the other attendees continued to file inside. But she was totally shocked when she recognized who one of those concertgoers was.

"Oh my God!" Jubilee thought to herself, "What is John doing here?"

Jubilee watched as the young man, also known as Pyro, stood at one of the entrances and seemed to scan the crowd. She had thought about getting up to find Doug and getting out of there, but John spotted her before she got the chance. He walked over to her and Jubilee didn't know what to expect. Before the Professor left with Peter, Kitty, and Theresa, he had her and the other X-Men run simulations in the Danger Room against holographic versions of enemies they might face. One of those sessions was against Magneto and his Brotherhood, a Brotherhood that apparently included John. Jubilee wondered if she would have to put that training to use now?

"What's up, Firecracker?" John said to her, calling her by the nickname that he had given her when she first arrived at Xavier's School a couple of years ago.

"Uh, hi. Didn't expect to see you here?" Jubilee nervously replied, "I never figured you for a closet Allison Blaire fan. I always thought you liked your music with a little less melody and a lot more kick ass guitar."

"Yeah, normally I do. But lately, I've been trying to broaden my horizon." John replied, as he took out his cigarette lighter, the one that had sharks teeth etched on it. Jubilee watched closely as John started to flip the lid up and down. Up and Down. She prepared herself, wondering if he was planning on using it against her? But right then, almost on cue, Doug returned from the concession stand. Doug saw his date talking to a guy he had never seen before, with an expression on her face that he hadn't seen before either.

"So this your new boyfriend, or something?" John said as he put the lighter back in his pocket and put his hand out to shake Doug's.

"Uh, yeah. John, this is Doug. Doug, this is John. John used to go to our school before he…transferred." Jubilee said as she made the introductions.

"Nice to meet you." Doug replied as they shook hands.

"Yeah." John replied, "I can see that I'm a third thumb, so I'll be seein' you around. Hope you two enjoy the show." John smiled as he turned and walked back up the stairs and disappeared.

"Seems pretty cool." Doug said to Jubilee as they went back to their seats.

"Like ice cream on a hot day." Jubilee replied.

Jubilee sat down and debated in her mind about what she should do? Should she follow John and risk a confrontation. Obviously, he wasn't there to start a fight, or else he could've burnt her to a crisp right on the spot. On top of those concerns, there was also the question of Doug. What was she going to tell him?

"Yeah, um, I'm wearing this cool leather outfit with an X on it because our school is really the base for a mutant super hero team, and John is part of a super-villain squad that I have to go and fight. I'll just drop you off at your house on our super secret jet that nobody is supposed to know that we even have." Jubilee thought to herself, "Puh-leaze, even a super-sweet guy like Doug would head for the hills after hearing that one."

As Jubilee sat there contemplating her dilemma, the opening act wrapped up their set. Then there was a brief intermission before the main attraction took the stage. Doug and Jubilee just sat there in, what was for them, an unnatural silence.

"Everything all right?" Doug asked her.

"Everything's fine." Jubilee replied with a fake smile, trying to reassure Doug as she held his hand tightly in hers.

After the intermission was over, the lights in Madison Square Garden went down. Suddenly, there was a large explosion of pyrotechnics on the stage. Jubilee had read about how great the light effects at Allison Blaire's concerts were, but seeing it first hand made her realize how truly spectacular it was. The special effects seemed to almost mesmerize the crowd and they began to cheer wildly. Allison started singing songs from her large repertoire of songs, all of which had been number one on the charts at one time. In fact, Allison had more hit songs than she knew what to do with, which was a mighty feat for someone who had only released her first album less than four years ago. Watching her perform, you didn't have to know anything about her just to understand that she honestly and truly loved what she was doing.

After her ninth song, the show paused briefly for a wardrobe change. Allison then reappeared on stage in a tight red outfit. She began to sing one of her love ballads, Holding My Heart in Your Hand, which had spent six weeks at number one and a total of six months in the Top Ten. Suddenly, during the middle of her set, a disturbance could be seen from the left side of the stage.

"Outta my way! I wanna meet her face to face."

Jubilee looked and recognized the person pushing his way through the building's security as the Blob. As he continued to make his way onto the stage, Jubilee had no doubt in her mind about what she had to do now. Despite how it might affect her relationship with Doug, she had to get down there as fast as possible and see if she could put a stop to the Blob's rampage.

"Look, I gotta go help her." Jubilee said as she stood up, still holding his hand for one more moment and then releasing it.

"Are you crazy! I like Allison's music too, but you can't go down there. Those security guards are being tossed around left and right, and they're some pretty big guys. Just wait and let the cops handle it." Doug said to her, not quite sure what had gotten into her.

"That's just it, I don't think the cops will be able to handle things. I might be Allison's only hope against that maniac." Jubilee said to him as concertgoers started to head for the exits.

A few police officers that were assigned to the area had arrived and ran onto the stage, ordering the Blob to freeze. He responded to their orders by throwing some of the band's equipment at them. The police then fired their weapons at him, but the bullets had little effect as they simply bounced off of him. Doug saw this and grabbed Jubilee by the arm. He attempted to lead her outside with everyone else, but she stopped them dead in their tracks. She then looked up at him, staring deeply into his eyes.

"I know you're doing what you think is right, but trust me, this is something that I have to do." Jubilee said to him as she jerked her arm out of his grasp.

Doug thought that she was going on a suicide mission, and he had no idea as to why?

"Jube, come on. You go down there and you're gonna get yourself killed. Bullets aren't phasing that guy, how do you plan on stopping him?" Doug asked, still trying to talk some sense into her.

"With these." Jubilee replied as she looked down at her hands. Doug knew that Jubilee was a mutant, but she would never show him what her power was. She only told him that she'd ruined her share of TV's and microwaves. Out of respect, Doug never pressed the issue with her. Deep down, Jubilee had hoped that he would never have to see her abilities. But as they stood there arguing, she could see that the cops were getting majorly thrashed and that none of their backup had arrived. Instead of wasting time trying to explain everything, she knew that there was one thing that might convince Doug. As she began, Doug was left speechless, once again. Jubilee held out both of her hands and they started to crackle and spark brightly.

"I knew being a mutant meant that you were different, but I…I never guessed…" Doug stuttered, still taking in the sight. Jubilee's heart sank as she realized that this changed everything between them. If Doug couldn't handle seeing this, then how could she ever tell him about the other students, or even about the X-Men?

"Yeah, I understand." Jubilee said in a depressed tone, "I gotta go." She walked by Doug and started down the stairs. As she was almost out of earshot, she heard him call out to her, this time with no hesitation in his voice at all.

"I love you." Doug shouted to her, "Just promise that you'll be careful, okay."

"Aren't I always?" Jubilee replied. She then continued downward, going against the rush of people fleeing the arena.

When Jubilee finally made it down to the stage, she ran and jumped on some of the equipment in front of it. The Blob was about twenty feet from Allison and her band.

"Hey, Blimpy-dude. Why don't you quit ruinin' the concert for the rest of us civilized folks?" Jubilee shouted, in an attempt to get the Blob's attention.

"Well if it ain't X-Chumps: The Next Generation." Blob responded, "Whtat'cha gonna do about it, little girl?"

"This." Jubilee told him as her hands started glowing and she hit him with a full plasma energy blast. She stunned the Blob, but within a matter of seconds he had regained his composure.

"That ain't gonna do squat to me." Blob replied as he picked up an amplifier from the stage and threw it at Jubilee. Jubilee moved just in time to avoid the large object, but she landed hard on the concrete and knocked the wind out of herself.

Blob then turned his attention back to Allison and her band.

"Now 'sweet-thing', you gonna show that kid how it's really done?" Blob asked her.

"What are you talking about?" Allison replied.

"Don't play stupid with me. I know all about your 'other' talent, and I ain't talkin' about your actin'." Blob told her.

"You know! But how?" Allison replied.

"I got my sources. Next time someone makes you an offer you can't refuse, don't be dumb enough to refuse it." Blob said as he started walking towards her and the band, "Now, you can (A)-try and stop me, or you can (B)-watch as I take your band apart, piece by piece."

"I choose (A)." Allison replied as she reluctantly raised her hands, putting them together in the shape of a gun, "Buddy, you've messed with the wrong girl tonight." It looked as though light, pure untainted light, began to emanate from Allison herself as she fired small light blasts at the Blob from her hands.

"Ooh. Oww. That really hurts." Blob sarcastically replied, acting as though Allison's barrage was really hurting him, "I've learned my lesson. Never go up against a MUTANT as powerful as Allison Blaire."

He said the last sentence loudly, hoping that the few people still near the stage heard him. But as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. And tonight would prove that it still rang true. The crew filming the concert had returned to their cameras, just in time to capture what Allison had done. Within mere minutes, the secret that Allison Blaire had spent most of her teen and young adult years hiding, would be revealed to the entire world.

Having accomplished his goal, the Blob fled through the backstage area. Jubilee picked herself up and attempted to follow behind him. But, by the time she made it outside, he was long gone. She then tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, moving through the crowd and hoping that the police wouldn't spot her. The authorities, however, had their hands full with an animated mob that had gathered outside. Word was spreading like wildfire about Allison being a mutant and some of the concertgoers began to turn on her. A few even began to shout anti-mutant statements, which started fights between them and the fans that still supported her.

"Man, what I wouldn't give for my own Bat-Mobile right now." Jubilee thought to herself as she walked and held her side, which was still aching from her fall earlier, "At this point, I'd even settle for a Bat-Bicycle." As she continued through the parking lot that was steadily emptying, she tried to figure out her next move. Suddenly, her next move showed up.

"Headin' my way beautiful." Doug said to her as he pulled alongside of her in the car, "Or are you superwoman enough to walk all the way back to Westchester?"

"Wait a minute, I'm the one that makes the wise-cracks." Jubilee said as she ran around to the other side of the car and got in, "You're messing up the dynamic of our relationship."

"Hey, I can have my moments too." Doug told her.

"Yeah, but it just seems…wrong." Jubilee replied as they exited the parking lot and got into the congestion heading home.

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Next chapter: Fallout from Allison's revelation. Plus, Kitty and Peter have a major moment…


	12. The Next Day, pt I

A/N: Special thanks to MoonlightPhoenix3, SilverDragonsFlame, SperryDee, Independent Fire, and emicablue for you reviews of the last chapter. Sorry it's been so long since my last update, but I finally started my other story about Rogue and Logan. It just took me a little while to figure out exactly what I wanted to say. Anyways, I hope that I won't be as long between the next chapters…

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"Well, I suppose it's time for me to go 'n play 20 questions." Jubilee thought to herself as she walked down one of the hallways at the school. As she boarded the elevator that led to the lower levels of the estate, she gently touched her side. It was still aching from the tumble that she had taken at the Allison Blaire concert, after all hell seemingly broke loose.

"If I ever see the 'Michelin Man' again, I'm gonna give him a sledgehammer to his side, just to express my gratitude for the bruised rib." Jubilee continued in thought, "But, I guess it's not like it'd do him much damage."

After stepping off of the elevator, Jubilee walked down to the War Room that was at the end of a long corridor. As a large steel door opened in front of her, she saw Hank, Bobby, and Kurt already seated inside. They were all sitting around the strategy table, and were intensely watching a large-screen monitor mounted on the wall.

"So, is everybody waiting to see which video is gonna be Number One on the Top Twenty this week?" Jubilee asked, trying to lighten the very heavy mood of the room.

"No, but we know who's not going to be at the top of the charts for a very long time." Bobby replied, his eyes still trained on the monitor.

"What are you talking about?" Jubilee asked.

"Take a seat and see for yourself." Kurt answered.

As Jubilee took a seat, she watched the news flash along with others…

"Allison Blaire burst onto the music scene less than four years ago at the age of seventeen. Her recording career took off almost instantly, leading to a string of number one hit singles and platinum albums. She also managed to grab a few small acting roles for herself in some notable, and less than notable, films. Even the mixed reviews that she received didn't seem to affect her status as America's, and the World's, sweetheart. But, the recent revelation regarding her mutant abilities have sent a shockwave across both the entertainment and political spheres. Here is a reaction from one of her teenaged fans, after hearing the news…"

_"I can't believe she lied and pretended to be something she wasn't. I mean, she acted like she was this totally normal person, but now we find out she's just a big fake. I'm never gonna buy another one of her records or go see one of her stupid movies!"(End of clip)_

_"…Opinion seems to be evenly divided on the issue, but there have already been anti-Allison Blaire rallies planned across the country, some by the group known as the Friends Of Humanity. One such planned demonstration includes a public CD demolition. Here is a statement from one of their spokespeople…_

_"These recent events serve to further solidify the point that the Friends of Humanity have been trying to make, for some time now. Mutants are everywhere, and we still have no way of identifying them. We cannot allow these 'genetically challenged' individuals to continue to pose as harmless entertainers or sports figures, all the while brainwashing our children into believing their propaganda of mutant superiority. That is why we at the F.O.H. fully endorse senatorial candidate Graydon Creed, as well as other candidates with similarly responsible viewpoints. We hope to reopen debate on this issue on Capitol Hill and eventually re-introduce the Mutant Registration legislation that was voted down by the previous Congress."(End of clip)_

_"…While Allison is possibly more popular now than ever before, her newfound notoriety may end up being a detriment to her career. There are rumors now swirling that her record company is considering releasing her from her contract, due to pressure from some groups that feel she is not an ideal role model for children. Adding to this, other companies that have lucrative endorsement deals with her have also come under fire, and they may be considering similar action. Attempts to reach Ms. Blaire for comment were unsuccessful, but her spokespeople have said that she has disappeared and has told no one of her current whereabouts."_

_" That is the latest. We will continue to bring you any late-breaking information as it becomes available. For now, this is Trish Tilby reporting…"_

The group sat there in silence as the monitor switched to another broadcast feed with an almost identical report about Allison Blaire. Then, Jubilee was the first to speak.

"Un-Believ-able." She stated, "This is so screwed up, they're not just wrecking a career, they're ruining a person's life."

"And they're doing it just because she's a mutant. Gives us something to look forward to, huh?" Bobby responded as the four of them turned away from the screen and towards the large table they were seated around.

"I feel badly for her. I understand, better than anybody, what she is going through right now." Kurt commented, "I know what it is like to hear the cheers from the crowd that you are entertaining and I also know what it is like to be feared and even hated by those same people, once the show is over."

"It is the, seemingly, proverbial hypocrisy of man." Hank replied.

"Okay, I'm gonna assume you agreed with Kurt because I have no idea what you just said." Jubilee asserted, "All I know is that what's happening to her really sucks, and it's all the fault of that felon the Blob."

"I wonder what kind of game he and the Brotherhood are playing?" Bobby asked.

"Exposing Fraulein Blaire's secret doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose, at least in regards to Magneto's agenda. If anything, it has given more ammunition to those that oppose mutant rights." Kurt pointed out.

"Perhaps there was more to last night than simply revealing her secret to the world?" Hank surmised.

"I don't know. I'm still wondering why John didn't join his new buddy on stage, when all the chaos started." Jubilee stated. She then got a very quick response from one of her teammates.

"John was there! Why didn't you try and stop him?" Bobby asked her in a very animated voice.

"Gee, what was I supposed to do? Place him under arrest?" Jubilee replied, "Plus, Doug was sitting right there next to me when John walked up."

"You could've called us." Bobby said to her, "Anything's better than letting him and the Blob just walk off, scot-free."

"Well 'Super-dude', let's hear your brilliant plan on how you would've saved the day?" Jubilee snapped. She was upset that Bobby was questioning the decisions that she was forced to make on the spot at the concert, and Hank could sense that.

"The two of you just calm down before this conversation becomes any more heated." Hank instructed them, "Jubilee, tell us exactly what did happen."

"Well, when me and Doug got there, he went to the concession stands and I waited for him at our seats. Outta nowhere, John suddenly appears and I'm totally caught off-guard and kinda freaked. He scopes out the crowd and then walks over to me. But, it looked like all he wanted to do was make small-talk, because he took off a few minutes after Doug got back from the concession stand. Anyways, things after that were nice, real nice. That is, until that 'Round-Mound' jumped up on stage and started acting like some sort of out of control groupie." Jubilee recounted for them, "And then, well you guys already know the rest."

"Interesting…" Hank said as he sat and pondered what Jubilee had told them.

"What do you make of it Herr Hank?" Kurt asked him.

"I'm not sure, as of yet. It appears that the Blob may not have been there randomly, but the Brotherhood may have some sort of personal vendetta against Ms. Blaire." Hank answered.

"Do you think she might still be in danger?" Bobby asked.

"Possibly. I believe it is imperative that we find her before they do." Hank told them.

"How're we gonna do that? They said that she's completely dropped outta sight." Jubilee pointed out, referring to the television broadcast.

"How about Cerebro?" Bobby asked.

"Cerebro is out of commission until Forge is able to rebuild the missing parts necessary to repair it. And even then, we would need a powerful telepath to use it properly." Hank revealed, "But perhaps a little research on Ms. Blaire may give us a clue as to where she might be. I will begin once we are finished here."

The briefing in the War Room continued for another hour. Once it had ended, the four X-Men then prepared to go to various areas of the mansion.

"Hank, can I talk to you about something, in private? It'll just take a second." Bobby asked him as they got up.

"Sure, my lad. Let's go to my office." Hank replied as they started out of the War Room.

"Jubilee," Kurt said to her, "I am going to train in the Danger Room. Would you care to join me Liebchen?"

"Yeah, but only as a spectator. The way my side is killing me, I definitely don't feel up to being bounced around today." Jubilee replied, "I'll be there in a few minutes to set the simulation sequence for you."

"Auf Bald."(Translated, it means "See you Soon.") Kurt replied to her as he teleported out of the room.

As Kurt was leaving the room, Hank had overheard Jubilee's comment.

"Before you go to the Danger Room with Kurt, come to the medi-lab for a moment. I would like to take another look at the injury that you sustained last night." Hank instructed her, "I will be down there as soon as I've finished with Bobby. Just give me enough time to prep the X-Ray machine."

"Okay, I'll just hang here for a little while and watch some TV." Jubilee replied as Hank and Bobby walked out of the room, and she sat back down in one of the seats.

As she flipped through the broadcast feeds from around the world, one quickly caught Jubilee's attention.

"Wow, it's a broadcast of the memorial service for Peter's brother." Jubilee thought to herself as she relaxed in the chair, "I can see the Professor, Kitty, and Theresa sitting off to the side. It looks like Peter and his family are seated next to some pretty important government officials."

As Jubilee looked closer, she noticed something about Peter that she hadn't seen before.

"Peter looks so sad, I've never seen that from him before. He's normally so good at hiding his feelings behind that cold as steel exterior. It seems like Kitty is the only one that has gotten past all of that, I just hope she can help the Big Lug through everything." Jubilee continued in thought.

After the brief news flash of the memorial service had ended, Jubilee surfed the global channels for a time. After a while, she got up to join Dr. McCoy and hopefully get a prognosis on when her body would be one hundred percent again. As she stepped out of the War Room, Jubilee ran into some unexpected company.

"I know there has got to be somewhere cooler to hang out than in the hallway out here." Jubilee said to some of the younger students that had gathered outside.

"Well, we heard about that fight you got into last night." Dani(Mirage) said to her.

"Yeah, what about it?" Jubilee replied, expecting them to make fun of her for not being very effective in her fight against the Blob.

"We just…thought it was kind of neat." Dani answered, which surprised Jubilee.

"Really? Why do you think that?" Jubilee inquired.

"Because, ya get tah help a famous superstar with your powers." Sam(Cannonball) responded, "The Professor'd never let us do that."

"It's not all fun and games guys. The Professor doesn't want you putting yourselves into danger until he thinks you're ready." Jubilee told them.

"I don't believe that I would ever have the courage to do such a thing." One of the new students, Amara(Magma), told her.

"Yeah, that guy was huge, and you still stood up to him." Roberto(Sunspot) added, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Not that I don't want to stay and continue this post-fight interview, but Hank is waiting for me down in the medi-lab to take some X-Rays." Jubilee told the small group.

"What kinda X-Rays?" Julio(Rictor) asked.

"Of my side. I hurt it when the Blob threw an amplifier at me." Jubilee explained.

"Whoa, an amp. You gotta tell us the whole story." James(Warpath) said to her.

"All right, I promise I'll tell you guys everything. But I gotta go before I'm late." Jubilee promised them, in the hopes that they would finally let her get to her appointment with Dr. McCoy.

"Okay, but remember you promised us." Jamie(Multiple Kid) said as he and the group of kids walked on down the corridor and disappeared.

As they left, Jubilee thought about her new status as a school legend.

"A girl could get used to this." Jubilee smiled, as she finally made her way to the elevator that would take her down to the medi-lab.

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A/N: This chapter ran longer than I expected. So check out 'The Next Day, pt. II' for what Kitty, Peter, Theresa, and Professor Xavier have been up to. I hope to have it out very soon…


	13. The Next Day, pt II

A/N: Special thanks to Lucas'sgirl, MoonlightPhoenix3, and punkcatwitissues, for your reviews of the last chapter.

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A few days had passed since the memorial service for Russian cosmonaut, Mikhail Rasputin. After the government officials had made their speeches about the courageous young voyager and they had given their condolences to the grieving family, each of Mikhail's loved ones were left to deal with the loss in their own personal way.

Mikhail's father Nikolai, the patriarch of the family, passed much of his time together with the Professor. They went to the meeting hall in town, where the other elder men of the village gathered daily to either talk about the daily news or play chess. Nikolai actually beat the Professor a couple of times and he marveled at how skilled Peter's father was at the game. Professor Xavier had only played one other person in recent memory that was as capable at matching his own formidable abilities in the game of strategy.

Meanwhile, Nikolai's youngest child, Illyana and her new friend Theresa Cassidy, were busy exploring the local area together. Illyana had spent much of her time with Theresa after their return from the memorial service. She didn't remember her oldest brother very well, but sometimes she would try to imagine what kind of person he might've been like.

But in the case of her mother and other brother, they remembered quite well what Mikhail was like. Alexandra, the keeper of the family, had kept herself busy with the numerous daily chores that still had to be done. She was dealing, as best as one could expect, with the loss of a child. That left only one other, Nikolai and Alexandra Rasputin's middle child, Piotr Nikoleivitch Rasputin.

Peter had spent the last few days preparing the vast farmland in the surrounding area for planting crops later in the spring. It was the only thing, besides painting, that seemed to put his life in perspective. Peter worked from dawn to sunset, going almost non-stop and without using his mutant strengths to accomplish the task. It was also a way for him to keep his thoughts off of the best friend that he had lost in his older brother, and also about the words that he would never get the chance to say to him.

"You look tired." Peter's mother told him in Russian as he walked into the house, following another long day working with the land.

"Not really. I have finished with the surrounding farmland, so I decided to stop for the day." Peter replied.

"You did not have to do it all by yourself." His mother Alexandra said as she continued preparing that evening's meal.

"I know, but it was a way to keep my mind occupied." Peter responded.

"You know, your friends are very nice and caring people, especially Kitty."

"She is very special." Peter added.

"She has even been trying to help me with the tasks around the house. Her heart is in the right place, but I had to send the poor girl into town on an errand before she burnt the house down." Alexandra revealed, "Even so, she still might make a suitable wife for you."

"Mother!" Peter exclaimed, "We aren't even dating yet. In America, such things are done differently than they are done here."

"Do you not like this girl?" Alexandra asked Peter.

"I care for her very, very much." Peter told her.

"Well, I can tell that she cares deeply for you as well." Alexandra replied.

"How? Did she say something?" Peter asked her.

"Of course not. But a mother can tell when a young girl is smitten with her son. It is obvious by the way that she looks at you when you enter a room." Alexandra revealed, "Plus, any young girl that is concerned enough about a young man to come to a strange new land for his sake must feel something for him."

"Oh." Peter replied as he thought about his own feelings for Kitty. He then kissed his mother on her cheek and continued upstairs to wash up.

After changing clothes, Peter walked around outside until he ran into Illyana and Theresa. He learned from them that Kitty was down by the shore, at Lake Baikal. As he made his way through the small wooded area near the lake, Peter could see Kitty standing there. She was wearing a rose colored windbreaker and was gazing out at the water. The sun was shining brightly on the cool, clear spring day and that, combined with the light reflecting off of the lake's surface, seemed to create a radiance around Kitty.

"Hello Kitty." Peter said as he walked up behind her.

"Oh, Hi Big Guy." Kitty replied as she turned around in his direction, with her right hand up by her neck. She was grasping a necklace that had a Star of David attached to it, a gift given to her by her parents. It was something that she normally kept tucked beneath the top of the sweater or blouse that she was wearing.

"What are you doing down here?" Peter asked.

"Nothing, just standing here and thinking." Kitty answered, "I can see why you like the lake so much back home, it's a lot like Lake Baikal here."

"Yes, they are both very beautiful sights." Peter responded. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Just about life." Kitty told him, "In particular, I was just wondering why there's so much suffering in the world, and why people, like your brother and Jean, have to die so young."

"Perhaps, there is pain so that we can have a better understanding of life's joy." Peter said as he offered one possible explanation.

"Maybe." Kitty commented, "But it just seems so unfair."

Dr. Jean Grey had been the instructor at the school that Kitty had felt closest to. Ever since her death, Kitty had told herself that things were okay, that she was dealing with it all just fine. But being at Mikhail's memorial service had brought all of those issues back to the surface, forcing Kitty to face them once again.

"Look at me, I'm supposed to be here to cheer you up and I'm probably making you feel even worse with all of this depressing talk." Kitty replied as a tear started to roll down her face.

"It's okay." Peter replied as he went over to her and wiped the tear from her face, "It doesn't bother me to talk about it. The way that you've listened to me, I would like to be there for…"

Peter was stopped in mid-sentence by Kitty, as she put two of her fingers over his lips. She caressed the side of his face and then something spontaneously happened. Weeks of bottling up the feelings that they felt for one another had finally expressed itself, in a kiss so intense, that it surprised the both of them.

"That…was like…whoa!" Kitty said softly as she looked up at Peter.

"That's one way of putting it, Katya." Peter managed to utter as he looked deeply into her beautiful brown eyes. He then put his arms around her small frame and kissed her again.

Their show of affection went on for some time, and neither of them wanted the moment to end. Eventually, they were interrupted by the sound of a voice calling them in the distance.

"Time t'break it up, you two. Supper is almost ready." Theresa remarked as she and Illyana walked towards them.

"All right, we'll be there in a minute." Kitty said to the two girls as she and Peter stood there embracing one another. They soon made there way back to the house, holding each other's hand the entire way. After finishing the delicious dinner that Mrs. Rasputin had prepared, Illyana made a request to her brother Peter.

"Will you tell me a story, like the one you told last night? Pleeeaazze?" Illyana begged as they sat in the living room.

"Okay, but why don't we let Kitty tell one for a change?" Peter said as he looked in Kitty's direction.

"I don't know how to tell a story." Kitty replied.

"It doesn't have to be perfect, only entertaining." Peter assured her, "Just use your imagination."

"Okay," Kitty said, "Well, me and Jubilee watched Pirates of the Caribbean for like the millionth time before I left, so I guess I can try a pirate story. Here goes…"

"_There once was a pirate named Kitty and she lived in a far off land with all of her magical friends. Each one of them had a really special power…_"

Illyana, Theresa, Peter, and even the adults in the house, heard Kitty and became engrossed in the magical tale that she was telling. For Kitty it was a slight twist on a very real life that she lived everyday, but for Illyana it completely sounded like some sort of fairy tale…

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While a tale about magic and wonderment was being told at a house in a rural region of Russia, researchers in a secret laboratory half a world away were attempting to take the latest advances in modern technology to an even higher plane.

"Shall we proceed sir?" A man in his late twenties and wearing a white lab coat asked as he sat before a large computer console.

"Yes, initialize the independent functionality sequence." A second, older man replied from an observation room high above in the laboratory.

As electrical power began to surge into the laboratory, it caused temporary brown outs and black outs within a 20 square mile radius.

"Terminate all additional power. The activation sequence is complete." The older gentleman said, "The cybernetic links withstood activation and their artificial intelligence interfaces are now operating independently."

"Then it was a success?" The younger man asked.

"Indeed, it was an overwhelming success." The older man said with a smile, "After these many years, our efforts have finally reached fruition. Soon the world will marvel at humanity's newest equalizer against the mutant menace. Soon, they will witness the power of the _Sentinels_…"

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Next Chapter: Two new students are brought to a school that was formed to help mutants in using their powers. But, this is not a school in upstate New York and it is not run by Professor Charles Xavier…


	14. Alternative School

A/N: Thanks to punkcatwitissues, oldprydefan, SperryDee, MoonlightPhoenix3, and Lucas'sgirl for your reviews of the last chapter. I'm changing gears a little just for this next chapter, building on something that I started back in Chapter 6 of this story. I had waited a while to continue this because I wasn't sure how to blend together these various versions of the Marvel Universe into the movie-verse. Anyways, I hope it isn't too horrible…

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As a late-model luxury car pulls into the long driveway of a rather sizeable private school, it marks a new beginning for the two occupants within. The teenage girls in question are mutants, given superhuman powers by virtue of their unique genetic structures. They have been brought to this school for a reason, to gain a better understanding of the gifts that they were blessed, or some may say cursed, with. At The School for the Gifted located in Salem Center, New York and run by Professor Charles Xavier, other young mutants also learn to use their mutant gifts with the purpose of protecting and defending all of humanity.

Unfortunately, this is not that same school in upstate New York that these two young ladies have arrived at.

"Wonder if anybody's here?" One of the young girls asked, as she carried her luggage from the now departing car and sat it down at the curb in front of the aged building. As she stood back up, she pushed back a strand of long red hair from the front of her face.

"A place this big. There's gotta be somebody around." Another, taller and more muscular young lady with her hair in shoulder-length cornrows said, as she continued on with her luggage. She proceeded to make her way up the numerous steps that were in the front of the school.

As the second girl walked up to the large oak front door, the first girl grabbed her belongings sitting at the curb and followed behind. After a few knocks on the door, they both stood there and waited. As they did, a large plaque on the wall adjacent to the door immediately caught their attention.

"_The Massachusetts Preparatory Academy. Established this year of Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-Six, in the township of Snow Valley, Massachusetts._"

"I feel so nervous, I just hope that I fit in here." The red-haired girl stated as they waited for someone to answer the door. She looked around and was awestruck at the sheer size of the campus and it's many buildings. She also marveled at the beauty of the surrounding scenery, situated deep in the shadow of the Berkshire Mountains.

"Guess that's the difference between me and you. I could give a damn if anybody here likes me, they just better be smart enough not to mess with me." The second girl replied, "Besides, if there's anywhere that we would fit in, this would be the place."

When the door opened, a middle-aged, dark-haired woman was standing there to greet the two girls.

"Good afternoon ladies, let me take this opportunity to formally welcome you to the Massachusetts Academy. I am the Assistant Head Mistress of this institution, Raven Darkholme. Please, come with me." Ms. Darkholme said, as she led the two girls through the door to the inside of the school.

Despite being built nearly a century and a half ago, the interior of the school still had a 19th century feel to it. Namely, from the granite pillars that had been used as its main support beams, down to the expensive antique furniture that lined the main foyer near the entrance. As the two girls walked on, they stopped as they neared a small group of students that were inside of the foyer.

"Students, I would like to introduce you to two of your newest classmates." Ms. Darkholme started, as she pointed at the red-haired girl first, "Please welcome Angelica Jones, and the young lady next to her, Joanna Cargill. I trust that you will do your best to ease their transition into their new surroundings."

They all stood there for a moment in silence. And then, one of the more 'lively' personalities at the school made her introduction first, as she leaned against the railing at the bottom of a sprawling staircase that led to the students' dormitory.

"I'm Tabitha Smith." A blonde girl said through a mouth full of bubblegum, "But most people around here just call me Boomer."

"Hi." Angelica replied, somewhat timidly. If she seemed shy to her new classmates, it was in part due to the recent experiences she had at her previous school.

It had been a rough time for Angelica over the last few months. After her grandmother died, she had to deal with making the transition to high school in a brand new place. Things were complicated further when her ability to create and manipulate microwave radiation, suddenly and unexpectedly, burst forth one day. It happened while she was at school and ended up causing a small fire on campus. She continued to struggle as she tried to understand and control what was happening to her, both with limited success. As the rumor spread that weird things always seemed to happen whenever Angelica was around, she eventually found herself a complete outcast at her new high school. This was one of the reason's that when Emma Frost, the Head Mistress of the Massachusetts Academy, came to Angelica's home a few weeks after her powers emerged, the timing seemed like it couldn't have been any more perfect. Just as perfect and apt as the codename that she gave Angelica: Firestar.

While Angelica did not seem to exude self-confidence, the same could not be said for Joanna. She had not had an easy life either, but she had developed a survivor's mentality at a very young age. When her mutant ability emerged, giving her super strength and heightened invulnerability, it seemed like a physical manifestation of the strength that she had always felt was within her. And Emma Frost had promised to teach Joanna (whom she had codenamed Frenzy) how to use those abilities to their fullest potential.

"I will leave you students to get better acquainted with one another. Joanna, Angelica, if either of you need me, my office is at the end of this hallway." Ms. Darkholme said as she turned and then headed down one of the corridors of the school.

After Ms. Darkholme was gone, another blonde girl with the group made her introduction.

"I'm Jennifer Stavros. I'm sure you two'll like it here." Jennifer, also known as Roulette to the other students, said as she walked over to introduce herself to Joanna.

"We'll see." Joanna replied with an unconvinced expression, reserving her judgment until she had seen more of this school for herself.

"So what brings you two to 'Mutant Prep'?" Tabitha asked them, as she lifted the sunshades that she was wearing and placed them above her forehead.

"Basically, I came here to challenge myself and try my luck as a debutante." Joanna replied sarcastically, "What do you think brought us here."

"I was talking about your powers." Tabitha replied as she raised one eyebrow.

"Well in my case, setting my high school on fire with my powers got me invited here." Angelica responded.

"You start fires? Sounds like my kinda girl." John Allerdyce, also known simply by his nickname Pyro, said to Angelica as he sat in one of the antique chairs in the room, with his lighter in hand.

"Your kinda girl, huh?" Tabitha said in a very perturbed voice, as she folded her arms over in front of her and walked over to John.

"C'mon, you know I'm just kidding." John said as he leaned in to kiss his girlfriend Tabitha, but was met by her very cold shoulder.

"Uh-oh, looks like lover-boy's in the dog-house now." Another student said from behind John.

"Avalanche, just lay off willya?" John responded in an angry tone.

"Don't get mad at me just because you put your foot in your mouth, again." Avalanche, who was named Lance Alvers, said as he continued to laugh.

"Before you two get started up, why don't we change the scenery and go hang outside in the commons for awhile?" Jennifer suggested to the group.

"Sounds like a plan to me." John answered.

"We'll be out in a minute." Boomer responded as she turned to face Angelica and Joanna, "Let's go put your stuff upstairs, I think you two are rooming together."

As the girls headed upstairs to their side of the dormitory, John and Lance went outside laughing with one another. Lance had made another wisecrack, but was careful that he was out of earshot of the girls.

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While the newest additions to the Massachusetts Academy were starting to get settled in, its Head Mistress was attending to personal business elsewhere. Emma Frost was aboard her private jet, waiting to take off from Los Angeles International Airport. Her destination was New York City, where she would be attending a very important meeting, with very important people. While permission from the control tower to depart was slow in coming, she kept herself busy by reviewing documents pertaining to a recent business proposal. It was for the corporation that she headed, Frost Enterprises. As Emma sat there, she was a vision of cool, collective refinement, dressed in a white pantsuit that had been designed by one of the top fashion houses in Paris. But, appearances to the contrary, the rich, young, and powerful CEO of Frost Enterprises was not a patient person.

That was not to say that she was a person who rushed blindly into situations without first thinking. In fact, the exact opposite would be a more accurate description of her. Her impatience had more to do with the fact that she saw no need to let anything get in the way of her goals, including what others may perceive as unethical or even immoral behavior. Her viewpoint may have been effectively altered when, at the age of 12, she began having tremendous headaches that would sometimes incapacitate her for hours.

In the following months, the headaches grew steadily worse and no one could figure out what was causing them. That was, until young Emma began to figure things out for herself. Her headaches were caused by her brain trying to filter out a myriad of thoughts flowing through her mind. As the garbled voices began to grow clearer, Emma Frost, descendent to one of the oldest and most powerful families in New England, began to take perverse pleasure in eavesdropping on the thoughts of others. It was this intimate window into what most people would consider the most secret and sacred of places that humans possessed, that Emma began to regard the rules of society as a complete hypocrisy. She thought that it was insane that people would deny themselves what they truly wanted, just because of what they felt to be a moral obligation, and Emma decided that she was not going to be one of those people. When she realized that her telepathic powers also gave her the ability to control what others thought or felt, she used those talents to her advantage. Whether it was simply going on a five figure shopping spree or inheriting a more than sizable portion of her family's assets, despite her siblings, Emma always got what she wanted.  Which brings us back to Ms. Frost's decision to become the Head Mistress of the Massachusetts Academy, and her feelings towards the man whom she had recently formed an alliance with.

"My plan is working to perfection. Magneto thinks that he has found the Holy Grail in his long running soap opera with Charles Xavier and his X-Men, and in his deluded war with the rest of the world in general. He now believes that he has found all of the answers. It's so unfortunate that Magneto has yet to realize that the question has changed, in the meantime." Emma thought to herself, as her jet finally began to taxi down the runway for liftoff.

Emma looked out of her window at a sky that was as cold and as blue as the eyes that were observing it. She then continued on with her silent analysis.

"Erik also believes that his gesture, in regards to Allison Blaire, will assure his position among the Lords Cardinal. What he doesn't realize, is that Ms. Blaire's fate was sealed the moment that she decided to double-cross the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. In thinking that the Massachusetts Academy will give him with the young and impressionable army to fight alongside him in his misguided war against humanity, again Erik is mistaken. Despite bringing Lance Alvers and the first defector to Xavier's dream, John Allerdyce to the Massachusetts Academy before he disappeared, when Magneto returns he will see that those students' loyalties no longer lie exclusively with him."

As the plane leveled off at a cruising altitude, Emma sat back and let the pilot's thoughts flow through her, informing her of their estimated time of arrival in New York. She also thought about the future, about the day when she would be the pre-eminent power among the Inner Circle. She knew it would only be a matter of time, considering the potential power at her disposal with the mutants who now resided at her Massachusetts Academy.

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Next Chapter: I'm getting back to what's been going on with Kitty, Peter, Jubilee, and the others. I mean, this is a story about the X-Men after all…

A/N: Before anybody says it, I know Lance Alvers wasn't Avalanche's original name. I just really liked his X-Men: Evolution personality.


	15. Muir Island

A/N: Special thanks to SperryDee, punkcatwitissues, Lucas'sgirl, and MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews of the last chapter. (P.S. Lucas'girl, if you're a big fan of Gambit's, I'm writing another fic that takes place after Logan and Rogue left the mansion for Japan back in chapter 9 of this story. It's called Land of the Silver Sun, and Logan and Rogue are just now meeting up with the 'Ragin' Cajun' himself. As far as Rogue and Gambit getting together, you just never know…)

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More than a week had passed since the memorial service for Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Rasputin, and Peter & his family were slowly coming to terms with losing a part of their family. Each had found a way to cope, with Peter's way being to revel in both the beauty and the sense of security that he felt from being back at home in TransBaikal, Siberia. But soon, he would have to find a new way to cope with the grief that he felt.

"So, how're you feeling about tomorrow?" Kitty asked Peter as she, him, Theresa, and Illyana walked together along the shore of Lake Baikal on a cool, spring afternoon.

"I'm starting to feel now as I did the first time when I left home, when the Professor came to recruit me to attend his school in the United States. I feel like I'm leaving a part of myself behind." Peter replied, as he held Kitty's hand and continued walking. They were talking about the fact that they would be departing the next morning for Muir Island.

"I know what you mean, I kinda felt the same way when I left Deerfield. I mean I made a lot of new friends at Xavier's, but I still missed my old friends back home." Kitty revealed to him.

"I'm just glad that I'm gonna get a chance t'see my Dad again. It's been a couple 'a years since I've been home to Cassidy Keep." Theresa told them, "I'm so excited that I can barely stand it."

As Theresa said the last sentence, she lot out a joyful exhalation that propelled her into the air. While her mutant ability to create intense sonic vibrations made it possible for her to fly, she was not yet experienced enough to stay airborne for more than a matter of seconds. As Theresa landed a few yards from them, Illyana asked her older brother a question.

"When I get older, will I be able to fly like Theresa?" Illyana wanted to know.

"It's a possibility. The Professor said the chances are good that you might develop mutant powers like us, but there's no way of guaranteeing if or what those powers will be." Peter answered as they stopped alongside the lake.

"I just hope that Illyana doesn't get a 'choir voice' like Terry's." Kitty smiled as she took a verbal jab at Theresa, "We've got enough shattered windows and mirrors back home as it is."

"Ye're a bleedin' riot." Theresa told Kitty as she walked back to the group, "At least I'm not wanderin' about like some sort of teenage phantom. Why don't ye go find an abandoned mansion t'haunt or something?"

As the girls continued their exchange of insults to one another, Illyana walked over to Peter as he watched them, with a very serious look on her face.

"Piotr?" Illyana asked, as she looked up at the colossal figure in front of her.

"Yes." Peter replied.

"Can I ask you something?" Illyana continued.

"Of course." Peter replied, expecting a request for him to tell her another story.

"I was wondering, what was Mikhail like?" Illyana inquired, "Mama said that I met him, but I do not remember it."

Peter thought for a moment, trying to think of what traits would be Mikhail's defining qualities.

"Well, one of the things that I will always remember is that he was a person that would not accept failure. He would always tell us that he was going to do something and no matter how impossible it might have seemed, he would find a way to accomplish it." Peter replied.

Peter and Illyana walked over to a log that had fallen down not too far from the shore and sat down. As they sat there, Peter recalled all of the memories that he had of his brother, conjuring every detail that he could remember. He wanted to paint as accurate a picture as possible for his little sister, about who the late Mikhail Rasputin was. While Illyana listened intently, Theresa and Kitty had finally run out names to call each other and came over to hear Peter's recollections too. All of them sat at the lakeshore until it was well past sunset. This motivated Peter to start a small fire on the cold night for them to sit around, while he continued telling them about his older brother. As evening became night, Mr. And Mrs. Rasputin became curious about where Peter, Illyana, Theresa, and Kitty were. After a brief mind-scan, Professor Xavier alleviated their worries. He told them that they were fine, that Peter was telling them a story, perhaps the best and most important one of his life.

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As another day approached, the next morning seemed to arrive much too quickly. Professor Xavier and his students were up before dawn, loading their luggage and prepping the Blackbird for departure. After all of the pre-flight preparations had been made, there was only one thing left to do. As everyone gathered at the front of the house, Peter and his family illustrated that saying good-bye to a loved one was not an easy thing to do.

"We are so proud of the young man that you have become." Peter's mother and father said to him as they hugged their son, "Just remember that our love is always with you."

"I will never forget." Peter replied as he embraced them.

As the rest of the X-Men said their farewells to the Rasputins, the youngest member of the family was struggling to accept the fact that Peter was leaving. Illyana had lost one brother that she hardly knew, and now the brother that she did know was going away as well. It felt like this would be just too much for her to bear.

"What's the matter, little sister?" Peter asked Illyana, whom he could see was sitting and crying on the front porch a few feet from him.

"I was wondering if I will ever see you again, Piotr Nikoleivitch?" Illyana answered, as her nine-year old emotions were getting the best of her.

"You will be seeing me again very soon, Illyana Nikolievna." Peter replied as he walked over to her.

"How? You will be far away in America, and I will be here." Illyana asked him.

"Theresa and I have asked the Professor if you can come there for a visit, and he has given his permission." Peter informed her.

"Mama, Papa, is this true? Can I really go?" Illyana asked her parents.

After they nodded yes, Illyana ran and jumped from the porch and put her arms around her brother's neck. She gave him a hug hard enough, that Peter would have felt it even if he were in his armored form.

"But Piotr, I do not know anything about America." Illyana said to her brother, still clinging to him.

"I can help with that." Professor Xavier said as he sat in his modified wheelchair next to Kitty and Theresa, "Come towards me child."

Illyana walked over to Professor X and stood in front of him. He placed his hand on her forehead and proceeded to give her a basic crash course in American culture, languages, and customs. In a matter of minutes, all of Illyana's questions about America had been answered. Then, Illyana went to say goodbye to her two new friends.

"Goodbye Theresa. I am so glad that I met you." Illyana said as she gave her a hug.

"Me too. I'll be lookin' forward to when ye come to visit us at the mansion." Theresa replied.

Then Illyana turned to Kitty.

"You have to tell me another story when I come to visit, just like the wonderful one that you told here." Illyana said to Kitty as she hugged her as well.

"Anytime kiddo." Kitty responded as she stroked Illyana's hair.

"Don't worry, I'll be makin' sure Kitty and yuir brother don't spend all day smoochin'." Theresa said, as she and Illyana started giggling.

"Well with that, I believe it is time for us to make our departure." Professor Xavier said to the group.

Professor Xavier and the students then journeyed over to the wooded area where the Blackbird had been camouflaged. The Rasputins stood and watched until the supersonic spy plane was airborne and on it's way to Muir Island, Scotland.

But, the Rasputins were not the only party observing the X-Men as they took off.

"They have lifted off. Shall we scramble our fighters to intercept them Colonel?" A voice said across a handheld radio transmitter.

"No, let them leave unimpeded." Colonel Alexei Vazhin, the head of the office of Russian super-powered affairs, said to one of his subordinates assigned to the area, "The late Colonel Rasputin's brother and his friends have done nothing to warrant action from us, and I have no desire to needlessly antagonize them. There may come a day when we will have need of their aid, perhaps in the very near future…"

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As the Blackbird streaked across the morning sky and crossed a few time zones, it did not do so under the guidance of Professor Xavier. Instead, two of his students were dressed in their dark blue & silver junior X-Men uniforms. They were at the helm of the aircraft, getting a chance to receive a little on-the-job training.

"Flying this thing is neat, but it is kind of ironic when you think about it." Kitty said as she sat in the pilot's chair, wearing one of the communication headsets.

"What do you mean Katya?" Peter asked her from the co-pilot's seat.

"Well, here I am steering this multimillion dollar jet with no problems at all, but I have to wait more than a year before I can get my license." Kitty answered, "Still, after getting the hang of the Blackbird, I bet I pass my driver's test with flying colors."

"I'm glad that you feel so confident doing this, because I certainly do not." Peter revealed.

"Why? You did fine in the simulator." Kitty pointed out.

"Not all of us have the same affinity for computers and machines that you do." Peter told her, "Besides, flying in the simulator is one thing, but being behind the wheel of the real thing is quite another."

"Well, you don't have to worry. I won't let us crash, or anything." Kitty smiled, as she looked down at one of the instrument panels in front of her.

"You really know how to make a person feel better." Peter replied, who had been trying not to think about that particular subject.

"You know, you're kinda cute, sitting there all worried and stuff." Kitty told Peter as she gazed at him.

Peter didn't respond, but just looked back at Kitty. Despite trying not to, he couldn't help but smile a little at her flirtatious comment. He then went back to monitoring the gauges that were located on his side of the cockpit.

The flight lasted for almost eight hours, before they made it to Muir Island. The island itself was located at Cape Wrath, right off of the coast of Scotland's northern most point. It was known worldwide as the home of the foremost research facility in the field of mutant genetics. The geography of the moderately sized island was a mixture of lush, rolling green hills and jagged rocky cliffs. It was a beautiful sight at sunrise, in the off chance when the sun peered through the usually foggy and overcast weather.

As the Blackbird began docking procedures and touched down on the landing pad behind the research facility that belonged to Dr. Moira MacTaggert, one of her assistants came out to greet their visitors.

"Welcome Professor Xavier." The assistant said as Professor Xavier's wheelchair was lowered to the ground from the Blackbird, "Dr. MacTaggert and Ms. Munroe have been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

"I assume Dr. MacTaggert is in her laboratory, as usual?" Professor Xavier asked.

"Yes, you know how dedicated she is to her work." He replied.

"It's nice to see that some things do not change with time." Professor Xavier smiled, as he wheeled to the inside of the large facility.

Professor Xavier navigated down a number of long corridors, still familiar with the basic layout of the complex. As he pushed a button that opened a large steel door leading to the main research laboratory, he could see that Moira and Ororo were busy at work within.

"We can stop at anytime if ye start to feel uncomfortable in such a confined space." Moira said to Ororo, as she stood in front of a computer terminal and analyzed the data that was being processed in front of her.

"No, I feel fine. We can continue." Storm replied from the inside of a 10' X 10' sealed glass chamber in the laboratory, which had a number of electronic relay sensors attached to the outside.

Despite having no mutant abilities of her own, Moira instantly sensed the presence of her old colleague and friend. She was dressed in her customary lab regalia, complete with a white lab coat. Moira pushed the large-rimmed glasses that were slipping off of her face back up and her medium length reddish-brown hair behind her ear with her right hand, as she looked up at Charles.

"H'llo, Charley-luv. I'll be with ye in just a moment." Moira said as she turned back to face Storm.

Just then, Storm's eyes began to glow brightly and lightning started to flash within the chamber, as she levitated herself almost one foot from the ground. In less than a minute, a small-scale weather phenomenon was underway within the enclosed room. As the winds within neared gale-force status, Moira realized that they had accomplished the goal that they had set out for.

"Okay Ororo, I think we have enough data. Ye can power down now." Moira said, as Ororo ceased her fantastic display and then stepped out of the chamber.

"Hello, Professor." Ororo said to Professor Xavier, as she leaned against one of the tables in the room, somewhat exhausted.

"It's a delight to see you again. I trust that all is well in your village in Africa." He replied.

"Everything is fine. I just needed some time away from the mansion, to put all of the recent events in my life in perspective. The rainforests of the Serengati are the one place where I have the complete freedom to do that, by getting fully in touch with Mother Earth itself." Ororo said as she talked about the home where she had gained mastery of her elemental powers. It was also where Professor Charles Xavier came to recruit her as a young teenager, to become one of the founding students at his School for the Gifted.

"No warm words for me?" Moira said, as she walked up from the area where all of the computer terminals were.

"Of course, it's a pleasure to see you again as well." Charles replied.

"It's been much too long." Moira said, as she walked over to Charles and touched him on the shoulder.

"What exactly were you two doing?" Charles asked her.

"A routine diagnostic exam, just to satisfy my curiosity." Moira answered.

"And we all know how curious you are." Ororo joked with her.

"Och, that's the story of my life." Moira laughed, "Yuir Professor over here can vouch for that one."

"It's what drew me to you initially. Well, one of your many attributes." Charles smiled, as he let his normally reserved demeanor down. Moira was his most trusted friend, and one of the few people in the world that he truly felt at ease around.

"Listen to ye Casanova, talkin' like ye're still that teenage boy who swept me off ma' feet." Moira said, as she sat down in one of the chairs in the lab.

"But, it is nice to see that you still find my charm irresistible." Charles continued.

"Still?" Moira replied with a laugh, "I don't recall it being that irresistible back then."

"I would beg to differ." Charles happily responded.

"Well, I think that I'll go out to the Blackbird to check on the others, and leave you two on your stroll down memory lane." Ororo smiled as she started out of the main laboratory.

"That may be a good idea, Theresa begged me the entire flight to let her fly the Blackbird here. Hopefully, she hasn't figured out how to initiate the take off sequence yet." Charles said, as Ororo went outside. Then, he and Moira continued to reminisce together about times that had long since passed.

Storm went out to the landing pad, but didn't see any of the students out there. She then took to the air in her black leather X-Man outfit, and soon spotted them on a nearby hill. They were standing near a rocky cliff that overlooked the entire island. As the 'Wind-Rider' landed, Shadowcat, Siryn, and Colossus all greeted her.

"Ororo, it's so depressing out here. Can't you clear things up?" Kitty asked as they stood at the top of the hill.

"I could, but I try not to affect weather patterns that naturally occur in a region if I can help it." Ororo replied.

"Why is that?" Peter asked.

"Each time that I use my power, on the kind of scale needed to change the weather of an entire area, it has an effect on the natural eco-balance of the planet. Think of a long, tube shaped balloon. If you squeeze it one section, it has an effect on the rest of the balloon. The Earth is the same way. If I make it sunny in this region when it is not supposed to, it may cause it to rain or snow somewhere else where it should not." Ororo said, as she gave a brief and summarized lesson to her students about global weather patterns and how her powers affected them.

"Sounds like you're a walking natural disaster." Kitty told her.

"Nothing that dramatic Kitty, I just try to limit the influence that I have. Now, in conclusion to today's lesson, while I try to keep from affecting the weather over a large area, I can still brighten somebody's day." Ororo said to the group.

Just then, her eyes began to have a familiar white glow to them. While Storm had said that she didn't want to make any dramatic changes to Scotland's weather, making smaller changes to the weather did not have the same consequences. As they stood at the top of the small mountain, a tiny amount of sunlight peaked through the clouds. It increased only until the entire hilltop was basking in the sun's beautiful rays, and the group was in awe of the magic that Storm seemed to weave.

"Ororo, do ye know when we'll be leaving for my home in Ireland?" Theresa asked anxiously.

"The next ferry leaves in the morning. We'll be heading out fairly early." Ororo replied.

"Will you be joining us?" Peter asked her.

"Yes, it's been quite a while since I've seen Theresa's father." Ororo answered.

"You know Terry's Dad?" Kitty inquired.

"He's been a friend of the X-Men for years. He has even aided us in our more desperate times, and against some very dangerous foes." Storm explained.

"He never told me that." Theresa stated, "M'Dad just said that he and the Professor were friends from when they were younger."

"The original X-Men first met him when we were little more than children ourselves, and he helped us to defeat a villain named Count Nefaria." Storm said as she thought back to a time when the X-Men were composed of herself, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, and Beast, "Sean Cassidy was a dashing law enforcement agent back then, who was working for Interpol at the time. I must admit, Jean and I thought he was rather handsome. He seemed like a secret agent straight out of the movies to us."

"Siryn, I never would have pegged you for 007's daughter. And, that your teacher had a crush on your super-spy Dad too." Kitty said as she started teasing Theresa again.

"Why don't ye just shut up!" Theresa replied angrily, as Kitty had struck a nerve with her.

Usually, Theresa enjoyed the verbal exchanges that she and Kitty had between each other. But when it came to her father, Theresa's feelings were very vulnerable. Since her mother died when she was still a baby, Theresa felt like her Dad was all that she had in the world, and she didn't like anybody speaking ill of him.

"Settle down, both of you." Ororo told them, "Let's head back and unload the Blackbird before it gets too late."

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While Storm and the students headed back to the Muir Island research compound, half a world away, a different kind of storm was brewing in a top-secret government facility in the United States.

"Would somebody please care to explain this to me!" Dr. Stephen Lang, the presidentially-appointed head of Project Wideawake, yelled as he sat pouring through a folder containing official documents.

Project Wideawake was a covert government program that had been established more than a decade ago. It was originally created as a means to research and gain a better understanding of the mutant phenomenon in particular, and of super-powered human beings in general.

"What is the matter sir?" An assistant asked as he walked into Lang's office, located in the large underground compound that served as Project Wideawake's headquarters.

"Who authorized the transfer of Frederick J. Dukes, from a maximum security federal facility to a low-level security prison?" Lang questioned.

"Sir, I believe the transfer order was signed by Colonel William Stryker." The assistant replied.

"No, let me repeat my question. Look at this document, it is dated almost a week after Colonel Stryker was reported to have perished at Alkali Lake." Lang stated.

"What are you saying?" The assistant asked.

"I would say that we were being played for fools, but it seems like we are actually living up to the part." Lang answered angrily, " First Magneto, perhaps the most dangerous mutant alive, breaks himself out of prison.  And then one week later, in what can only be described as the most egregious lapse of basic protocol that I have ever seen, one of the original members of his so-called 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants' is transferred to a low-level security prison, from which he later escapes as well."

Lang then turned his attention to a large monitor in front of him.

"Look at this footage of a recent concert in New York, put on by an entertainer named Allison Blaire. In it, it appears that Mr. Dukes has moved up from simply robbing banks like he was when we originally detained him, to now inciting large-scale riots. On top of that, Ms. Blaire herself was revealed to be a mutant on national television. We have mutants infiltrating the upper echelons of our government and masquerading themselves in public, and I can see the writing on the wall. If something is not done, and done soon, mutants will have complete control of this country in no time. And I am determined not to let that happen." Lang revealed.

"Is that why you have authorized the mass-production of the Sentinel units?" The assistant continued to inquire, referring to large robotic constructs that had been designed to track, capture, and execute mutants deemed to be a danger to society. Lang's proto-type Sentinels stood around twenty feet tall, but he intended for his next upgraded model to be substantially larger.

"That is the exact reason. Humanity needs an equalizer if it is to survive, and the Sentinels will provide that." Lang responded, as he and his assistant walked from the office to the main section of the complex, where the Sentinel assembly factory was located.

"Aren't you worried about the backlash that might be generated when the general public learns of the existence of the Sentinels?" The assistant wondered.

"Look at the news, every single day humans are waking up to the danger that a mutant populace out of control poses. The minds of individuals, who had previously opposed the Mutant Registration Act, have been changed by the fact that mutants attempted to kill the President and also attacked every sentient mind on Earth more than eight months ago. I believe that the American public will welcome the Sentinels with open arms." Lang told the assistant, as they walked from the assembly area to a large briefing room.

"Has the President given his approval of the Sentinel program?" The assistant asked as Dr. Lang cued up an image on the large monitor in the room.

"I have that authorization de facto. When I was appointed as the head of Project Wideawake by the 'then' sitting President, his orders channeled to me through the late Henry Peter Gyrich were to protect national security from the threat that mutants pose. And that is exactly what I have done." Lang said as he looked up at the monitor, "Here is the threat laid out for you to see."

As Lang and his top assistant looked at the large screen, displayed on it were the most powerful known super-powered beings and groups on Earth. It included the X-Men, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and individual names like Spiderman, but it also included some entries that Lang's assistant did not expect to see.

"Sir, you have Captain America and the Fantastic Four on there…they are regarded as some Earth's mightiest defenders?" The assistant said with a confused expression.

"Don't worry, they are only listed there for 'theoretical' purposes. It is in the event that their loyalties are one day compromised." Lang stated, although their inclusion was more than a mere coincident, "The real reason that I brought you in here was to show you the first mission that I have for the Sentinels."

Lang then brought up a global image, with one area highlighted on it.

"Muir Island, Scotland? Why are the Sentinels being sent there?" The assistant asked.

"The notes that I retrieved from the late Dr. Trask, the original creator of the Sentinels, were incomplete. While the Sentinels that I have constructed are quite capable of eliminating their foes, whole-scale destruction of the mutant race is not something that would be politically feasible at this time. We need to have a way of neutralizing the threat that their mutant powers pose. I believe that the research facility on Muir Island may provide us the answers that I need. When the proto-type Sentinels are fully functional, I want a small group of them sent on a reconnaissance mission to retrieve the data contained there, and to bring back the world's leading expert on mutant genetics, Dr. Moira MacTaggert." Lang said, as he revealed the first phase of his diabolical agenda…

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Next chapter: The latest happenings in Westchester County…


	16. School Days

A/N: Special thanks to Lucas'sgirl, SperryDee, & MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews of the last chapter.

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Almost a week had passed since the melee that occurred at the Allison Blaire concert. Jubilee was sitting by herself in one of the rec-rooms at the mansion, thinking about everything that had happened that night. The TV was on in front of her, but she wasn't really watching it. She had other things on her mind, with the number one thing being Doug Ramsey.

They hadn't spoken since the night of the concert, and Jubilee had really expected not to hear from him anymore. She figured that after Doug had time to sit down and think about everything, he had probably realized that having a girlfriend that shot plasma blasts from her hands wasn't such a great thing after all.

So, Jubilee was thoroughly surprised when he called her the other day, asking if he could come over and talk. Jubilee agreed, thinking that it would be a good idea. But, what was she going to say to him once he got there?

Jubilee curled up on the sofa, and tried to figure out some kind of solution to her very complex problem. She figured it wasn't going to matter what she said anyways. Doug was probably coming over to break things off with her and make it official. Jubilee's thoughts were interrupted, however, when Bobby walked into the room wearing a very nice set of casual clothes.

"Where're you off to Popsicle, lookin' like a million bucks?" Jubilee asked curiously.

"I'm just heading into town for awhile, I've already cleared it with Hank." Bobby said as he continued through the room towards the garage, without stopping or giving Jubilee a chance to further question his destination.

"Just heading into town? I'm so sure." Jubilee thought to herself as Bobby left the room, "You must think everybody is like a total idiot or something, Bobby Drake. That's like the third time this week you had some secret place you had to run off to."

Jubilee had come to the conclusion that Bobby must have some new girlfriend, and that he was trying to keep her a secret from everybody else. She thought it was the only thing that made sense for him to dump Rogue for no reason, and then for him to start acting all secretive.

Jubilee sat there, staring off into space and coming up with some rather 'choice' names for Bobby. After a significant amount of time had passed, she looked down at her watch and realized that Doug was going to be there any minute.

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While Jubilee was keeping track of what time it was, so were the other students at Xavier's School for the Gifted.

"Does anybody have any questions, before class is dismissed?" Kurt Wagner asked, as he stood in front of a blackboard in one of the classrooms at the school.

He had been filling in for a short-handed staff, teaching a class entitled Introduction to World History. He looked very teacher-like, as he wore a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of tan slacks and a tan tie. Some of the students even joked amongst themselves that he and Scott must be in some sort of wardrobe contest.

Although Kurt had no formal training as a teacher, he was very deeply versed in a multitude of subjects. They included history, the sciences, and the works of writers like Socrates and Shakespeare. When he was growing up in the circus, Kurt wasn't able to venture outside of it's confines into the general public very much. He didn't want to cause a disturbance among the local populace of whatever town that they happened to be in with his appearance. So, in between his rehearsals and after their performances, when he wasn't reading from the Scripture, Kurt would spend countless hours reading every other book that he could find.

"Mr. Wagner?" One of the students asked as she raised her hand.

"Yes, Amara. Do you have a question?" Kurt responded.

"Earlier, when you were talking about the start of World War II, you said that the world's leaders had missed an opportunity to prevent that war when World War I was over. What do you mean?" Magma asked him.

"What I meant is that looking back in hindsight, they missed critical opportunities to prevent another war of that magnitude. They did not make it a priority to rebuild the economies of those countries that had lost the war, and they were unable to successfully create any type of organization that would have given a peaceful voice to the grievances that those countries may have had. What we'll see in our next class is that after WWII, they took steps to try and not repeat those same mistakes." Kurt explained.

"That's because they created the United Nations, right?" Mirage added.

"Very good, Dani! I am glad to see that you have been reading ahead." Kurt said as he complimented her, "I want everyone to read Chapters 44 through 48 for next class. Okay, class is dismissed."

As the students began to file out of the classroom, some of them noticed that Kurt had climbed up into his chair, looking outside through the window.

"Hey Teach, class is over. Aren't you coming too?" Rictor asked his teacher, as he stood with a small group of his classmates near the entrance to the classroom.

"I will be along shortly." Kurt turned and replied from the chair.

Out in the hallway, two of the students wanted to see who could get away from class the quickest.

"Ah'll race ya to the dining hall." Cannonball said to Warpath, as he turned on his kinectic blastfield in the middle of the hallway.

"Sam, come on, don't." Mirage said to him, "You can barely blast straight yourself in a straight line without hitting something."

"The last thing I want is another week's worth of extra practice sessions in the Danger Room." Magma reminded him, "When you went flying through the walls of the mansion the other week, Mr. McCoy made all of us attend your practice sessions with you. He said that we could all use some extra practice in learning to control our powers better."

"It's all right," Warpath said, "we'll see who's faster later."

While the students made their way down the hallway, Kurt continued to sit and look out of the window. He had been feeling extremely homesick lately. He missed his home at the circus, but more importantly, he missed the friends and family that he had there. But, more than anything, he missed the one girl that he had come to care very deeply for there. Her name was Jimaine Szardos. But, just as the public knew Kurt as 'The Incredible Nightcrawler', everyone referred to Jimaine by her performance name, Amanda Sefton.

Kurt had fallen madly in love with Amanda, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about her. In spite of that, it had become quite obvious that she didn't share the same kind of feelings for him. He had been constantly writing letters to her ever since he had arrived at Xavier's. In them, he explained to her the reason that he had disappeared from the circus, and he also told her about how Stryker had tried to use him. But, Amanda didn't responded to any of his letters. Even though that had hurt him, Kurt still couldn't help but wonder where she was and how she was doing?

Suddenly, Kurt's thoughts were interrupted when another student entered his classroom.

"Mr. Wagner?" Sunspot announced as he walked into the room.

"Roberto, you can call me Kurt when class is not in session." Kurt smiled, as he left the seat and walked towards him, "Is everything okay?"

"It's just that I passed Mr. McCoy downstairs and he wanted to see you in his lab downstairs, as soon as you had a chance." Sunspot informed him.

"Danke, Roberto." Kurt said as he disappeared, leaving only Sunspot and a black cloud of smoke in the room.

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As Kurt instantly made his way to the laboratory to meet with Hank, Jubilee was going to a meeting of her own.

"Um, Hi Doug." Jubilee said as she opened the front door of the mansion.

"Hi." Doug replied as he walked inside.

They stood there in silence for a moment, neither one sure of what to say next. Then, Doug spoke.

"I called you because I think we need to talk. About everything." He said to her.

"Okay, let's go to the veranda outside. We can talk there without being interrupted." Jubilee said, as they walked through the mansion to the garden area.

As they sat down on a bench outside, there was another uncomfortable silence between them. This time, it was Jubilee who broke it.

"So, how about those Red Dogs? Looks like they might make the playoffs after all." Jubilee said, trying to ease the tension between them.

"Jube, we both know I didn't come here to talk about sports. I think we need to talk about what happened the other night." Doug replied.

"Guess you're pretty weirded out by the freaky powers, huh?" Jubilee asked him.

"A little. But, I thought what you did was really brave, trying to help out a stranger and all." Doug told her.

"Just taking your example." Jubilee responded, referring to the night when she first met him.

"You know, when I told you that I loved you, I--" Doug started, but was interrupted by Jubilee.

"You don't have to worry about that, I know you meant it just as a friend." Jubilee told him, letting him off of the hook from his previous statement.

"No, I meant exactly what I said." Doug confessed. He had been feeling nervous the entire week about finally revealing how he truly felt about her, "I think that you're a really beautiful and amazing person."

"Oh." Jubilee blushed, as she looked back down towards the ground, surprised by his statement.

Jubilee and Doug each had personalities that were totally opposite from one another. She was an outgoing and talkative person, a walking comeback just waiting to happen. He, on the other hand, was a reserved, straight-A student, computer whiz. In spite of all of their apparent differences, something seemed to really click between them. It was becoming obvious that those differences seemed to just bring them even closer together.

Then again, anyone could also tell that by the way they were kissing each other on the veranda, at that very moment.

"Nice as this is, maybe we should stop until we're somewhere that has a little more privacy. Last thing I need is to be the lead story for this afternoon's gossip around the school." Jubilee told him as they stopped kissing, but still sat very close to one another, "I can see it now, 'Jubilee and blonde mystery guy suck face', (Story and picture on page 5)."

As they sat on the bench together, Doug noticed something about his surroundings.

"You know, this is the first time that I've been to this part of your school. It's really nice out here." Doug commented, as he looked around the estate grounds.

"Yeah, gotta thank the Headmaster for that one." Jubilee replied.

"How do you like it at this place, I mean really?" Doug asked her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jubilee inquired.

"Maybe that didn't come out right. All I meant was how do you like it here, compared to maybe going to a regular high school?" Doug said, as he rephrased his question.

"I really like it here. I've learned to control my powers better, so that at least I don't fry every major appliance in the house. And at least I don't get harassed here for being different. You should hear some of the horrible stuff that happened to some of the kids before they came here, you wouldn't believe some of the screwed up things people will do to someone just because they don't fit their definition of 'normal'." Jubilee replied.

"If the public could see all of the good that a school like this does in helping mutants to live with their powers, maybe it would change their minds." Doug stated.

"I doubt it. Lately, if you mention anything about a mutant using their powers, everybody just assumes that they're plotting some sort of global takeover." Jubilee pointed out.

"I hate to say it, but can you really blame them? I mean, look at what happened on Liberty Island." Doug reminded her.

"Yeah, but just because one maniac thinks that mutants should rule the world, doesn't mean every other mutant out there is going to automatically jump on the bandwagon. That's just like thinking that all people that belong to the same ethnic, or racial, or religious group all think the same way. It's easy to just assume what someone is thinking. That way, you don't really have to talk them, or get to know the person beyond whatever label society decides to conveniently slap them on the forehead with." Jubilee rebutted, " Plus--"

"Okay, Okay, you made your point." Doug smiled, as he held Jubilee's hand and kissed it, "Remind me to never get into an argument with you."

"And that's just scratching the surface of my powers of persuasion." Jubilee responded.

"What, is that another power that you happened to forget to tell me about?" Doug asked her, with a very serious look on his face.

"Um, no, I was just…" Jubilee started to explain, when Doug interrupted her.

"Had you going there for a minute, didn't I?" Doug laughed, as he kissed her on the cheek.

"You are sooo dead." Jubilee smiled, realizing that Doug was one of the few people that could actually catch her off guard.

Just then, Jubilee and Doug realized that they had an unexpected spectator to their conversation.

"Who's that?" Doug asked, as he looked at a younger boy that appeared to be maybe eight or nine years old.

"What's up Artie?" Jubilee asked, as she looked over at him.

Artie didn't reply, at least not vocally. Instead, he held up a small notebook and made a gesture with his hand.

"No, I didn't forget. But, Doug's gonna join us today." Jubilee told Artie.

"Join you for what?" Doug asked her.

"My session with Artie. Some of us older students tutor the younger ones a few times a week." Jubilee explained, "I've been teaching Artie how to write in cursive, and so far, we're up to the letter H. He's been so amped to get through the rest of the alphabet."

"I didn't think writing in cursive would be that exciting." Doug replied.

"Well, it's one of the few ways he's able to communicate with other people. See, he can hear fine, but he doesn't talk at all. So, we've been trying to figure out ways around it, including teaching him sign language." Jubilee said, as she and Doug stood up from the bench that they had been seated on.

As he stood up, Doug looked down at Artie. Artie looked back up at him, using the sign language that he had learned to say something to Doug.

"Yeah I know, she tries to hide it really well." Doug replied, as the trio started to walk.

"Who're you talkin' to?" Jubilee asked as she turned around, looking at Doug and Artie.

"Artie. He said that you're really nice, even though you try to pretend you don't like being around any of the younger kids." Doug answered.

"Hey, I'm just doing this tutoring thing for the extra credit." Jubilee replied, trying to hide the fact that she really did enjoy working with Artie. Then, she suddenly looked back at Doug.

"Hey, I didn't know that you knew sign language?" Jubilee said to him.

"Hmm, must've just slipped my mind." Doug replied, as he tried his best, but couldn't remember where he could have picked up that kind of knowledge either.

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Doug and Jubilee continued on to the inside of the mansion with Artie for his tutoring session. Meanwhile far below them, Hank was giving Kurt a lesson as well.

"So, tell me again, what does this machine of yours do?" Kurt asked curiously, as he hung upside down by his tail from one of the light fixtures in Hank's laboratory.

"It's a handheld mutant detector." Hank explained as he held the gadget in his hand, "Essentially, it's a Game-boy version of Cerebro."

"But, I thought only a powerful telepath like the Professor could use Cerebro?" Kurt questioned.

"That's the beauty of this device, my dear chum. It should detect the unique brain-wave patterns of mutants, without the aid of a psionically sensitive individual." Hank continued to explain, "The unfortunate downside is that it has a limited range in comparison to Cerebro Sr., and this little unit can only cover about two to three square miles. Also, unlike it's gargantuan relative, it isn't capable of revealing what specific powers the subject in question may possess."

Hank then walked over to a computer terminal in the lab, motioning Kurt to join him. Kurt then teleported from the light fixture, reappearing right behind him.

"I think that our little device may come in handy very soon." Hank said, as he started typing on the keyboard.

"Come in handy for what?" Kurt asked him.

"I believe that I may have uncovered a lead, in regards to the whereabouts of Ms. Blaire." Hank said, as a list of names popped up on his computer screen, "These are the names from the hotel registries of the cities where Allison performed on her world tour. When I ran a cross-search, one name repeatedly kept coming up."

"Lorraine Lightengale." Kurt said, as he looked at the one name that was listed in about twenty percent of the cities on her tour, "I know that entertainers are known to use aliases while traveling, but how do you know that this one is her's?"

"It's just a hunch. When I read an article about her, early on in her career, it said that she started off in an area of New York known as Hell's Kitchen. When I checked a database of the city's residents, a L. Lightengale was listed at an address in that same general vicinity." Hank revealed.

"You have certainly been putting in overtime on this one, Sherlock Holmes." Kurt smiled.

"Indeed, my dear Watson, but not without good reason. If I am correct, and she is in as much danger as I suspect, I hope that we find her before somebody else does." Hank responded, as he sat in the chair at the computer terminal and removed his eyeglasses, thinking about their next move.

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Next Chapter: Storm and her students leave Muir Island, heading to Cassidy Keep in Ireland. Meanwhile, back on the other side of the Atlantic, we get to see what another one of the original X-Men has been up to?


	17. Decisions Pt I

A/N: Special thanks to whitegoddess, MoonlightPhoenix3, punkcatwitissues, and Lucas'sgirl for your reviews of the last chapter.

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A new day had dawned on Muir Island, Scotland and its inhabitants were up early, preparing for an excursion that could only be described in two words:

"Road Trip!!!" Kitty happily exclaimed, as she, Peter, Theresa, and a new addition to their group, walked out of the research facility through an entrance near a lower-level loading dock.

"We know we're going on a trip, ye don't have to yell it like some mental patient out on a weekend pass." Theresa said, as she replied to Kitty.

"Siryn, I'm just trying to get everyone in a good mood, before we go to 'Castle Dracmoor'." Kitty taunted, as she and Theresa continued their long-running verbal duel with one another.

"It's called Cassidy Keep. Don't make me remind you again." Theresa said in a serious voice, as she made a fist with her hand and looked at Kitty.

"I'm sure she just made a mistake." A young girl, with short red hair said timidly.

"Maybe you two should lay off for a while." Peter said to Kitty and Theresa, as the entire group stood around a dark blue SUV that had been parked outside, "Rahne is going to start thinking you two are serious."

Rahne Sinclair had been staying at Muir Island, under the care of Moira MacTaggert, for the last six months. She had been under Dr. MacTaggert's charge ever since the night when her mutant powers manifested themselves, giving her the ability to shape-shift herself into the form of a wolf. The local townspeople had thought that some demonic force had possessed the twelve-year old girl, and a mob gathered together to hunt her down and kill her. They chased Rahne into the surrounding countryside, where Moira MacTaggert fortunately happened upon her.

"Peter, it appears that you have replaced me as referee between those two." Ororo stated, as she now exited the research facility, along with Dr. MacTaggert and Professor Xavier.

"I trust that all of my students will be on their best behavior during your visit to Theresa's home." Professor Xavier said, as the students understood his subtle hint.

Ororo then motioned for Kitty, Peter, Theresa, and Rahne to take their seats in the vehicle.

"I call shotgun." Theresa said, as she got into the front passenger's seat, "No way am I gonna be sittin' in the back next to Kitty and Peter, especially with the way that they're always all over each other."

"We are not!" Kitty protested, as she responded to Theresa's comment.

Peter nudged Kitty along into the SUV, in an attempt to put a quick end to their conversation. Meanwhile, as Peter closed the car door behind him, Rahne stood on the other side of the SUV. She slightly blushed at the talk of boys and girls being romantic with one another. As Rahne herself was about to get into the vehicle, Moira walked over to her with a leather shoulder bag in her hand.

"Here you go." Moira said as she handed the bag to Rahne, "These are some books that I think you might enjoy on your long trip. I also included a few other surprises in there for you too."

"Thank you, Miss Moira!" Rahne said, as she leapt up and gave Moira a huge hug for the thoughtful gesture.

"You're welcome, Poppet." Moira replied, as she called Rahne by a very special nickname that expressed how much she had come to care for the young girl. Rahne then went back and took her place within the vehicle.

"Just take this road here down to the shoreline. You can drive this vehicle on board the ferry, and it'll take all of ye across the water channel to the mainland. Once you get off of the ferry, head west on the main road from Stornoway. After a few miles, you'll run into the highway that takes you south." Moira said, as she gave Ororo instructions on how to navigate the first leg of their trip to Ireland.

"Don't worry, I remember the area quite well." Ororo said, reassuring her, "Everything will be all right."

"I'm glad ye're feeling so optimistic. But, you're gonna be stuck in an auto with four teenagers for a good majority of the day." Moira told her.

"I've survived worse." Ororo, replied with a smile.

"Well, I'm still going to say a small prayer for ye." Moira said jokingly, as Ororo climbed into the SUV.

"I'll tell you if it worked, when we return in a few days." Ororo told her, as she closed her door. Then she, and her four passengers departed.

The sports utility vehicle headed down the small road that ran from the research facility towards the shoreline where the ferry docked, quickly disappearing from the Professor and the Doctor's view. The pair then turned and went back inside of the research facility.

"I must say that Rahne is an exceptional girl. It's not hard to understand why you are so fond of her." Charles said, as he and Moira moved together down a corridor. The corridor ended at an elevator shaft, which went back upstairs to the main laboratory.

"Aye, she is. Which makes my decision all the more difficult." Moira replied, as the elevator doors closed.

"What decision?" Charles asked her, as the elevator moved up.

"You're the mind reader. I figured you'd just pull the answer out on yuir own." Moira answered.

"You know me better than that." Charles quickly stated, as the elevator doors opened.

"I know, and I admire you for the self-constraint you exert. It must be exhausting to have t'constantly shut the rest of the world out of your own head." Moira said, as they started down the corridor to the main lab, "It's just that it would make what I have to ask ye a whole lot easier, if I didn't have to say the words myself."

"I assume that you are referring to 'the matter of great personal importance' that you said we needed to discuss in person, when you called me a few weeks ago." Charles said, as the lab's doors opened in front of them.

Moira and Charles went inside, where Moira pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Charles.

"It has to do with Rahne." Moira began, "I've come to love her as if she were mah own flesh and blood. She's been staying here with me ever since that night I rescued her. After Reverend Craig and some of the townspeople tried to kill her, I didn't dare send her back to her regular school. So, she spends the first part of every day studying in the research library here, and the rest of the day with me. Rahne's been such a darlin' to be around, and she's given me the second chance to be the mother that I wish I could have been to Kevin."

Moira was referring to her son Kevin MacTaggert, the mutant known as Proteus. Proteus' mutant powers were so tremendous and awesome when they emerged, that not even his own body could not contain or properly control them. Moira hid Kevin from the world, while she worked diligently to find a way to help him. But before she could devise a solution, Proteus emerged from the holding cell that Moira had built for him underneath Muir Island. He threatened to unleash his awesome capabilities against the entire planet. He ultimately forced the X-Men to ally themselves with their arch-nemesis Magneto, all of them finally working together in a joint effort to stop him. In the end, they were left with no choice but to destroy Proteus in their tragic confrontation. (A/N: I've been thinking of eventually doing a X-Men: The Early Years type of story set in the movie-verse, where all of this would be explained in better detail.)

"Do you believe her powers pose a threat of that degree?" Charles asked her, as he reminisced on the battle with Proteus that nearly destroyed them all.

"Och, of course not." Moira quickly answered, "It's just that I can give her all of the love and attention that a child needs, but there are some things that only you can show her."

"You mean in regards to her powers?" Charles guessed.

"And you didn't have to reach into my mind to figure that one out." Moira confirmed, "A part of me has always regretted hiding my son from the world. I think that if I had told you about him sooner, that maybe things would have turned out differently. Perhaps you and your X-Men wouldn't have been put in such a terrible position in having to fight him."

"You did what you thought was best at the time, second-guessing yourself won't change any of it." Charles said as he wheeled closer to her. He reached out, gently holding one of her hands.

"Ye might be right, but at least I've learned from my mistakes. I've seen the difference in Rahne, in just the short amount of time that you and your other students have been here. I know it must be awful lonesome for her, there's no one else her own age here on Muir Island. As much as I know it will pain, both me and her, I think that when you return home to your school, I think Rahne should go with ye." Moira said resolutely.

Charles could see by her facial expression that this was a decision that Moira had been pondering for quite some time.

"How does Rahne feel about this?" Charles asked her.

Moira paused for a moment before answering.

"I haven't told her yet, I wanted t'be sure that you would be able to take her on first. I know that things have been topsy-turvy back home, ever since Jean died." Moira told him.

"Taking Rahne on as a student is no problem. It has been difficult these last few months, but we have managed to carry on." Charles told her.

"Then I'll have a sit-down with Rahne, when she and the others return. I just hope I can find the strength to tell her that the one person she has come to depend on like a mother, is planning on sending her away." Moira said, as she fought back tears. She tried to think of a way to convince Rahne, and herself, that such a separation would be a good thing in the long run.

"She's been through so much Charles, I don't know if I can do that to her." Moira paused, "But deep down, I know it's the right thing."

As Charles and Moira sat and talked, something on a nearby terminal caught his attention.

"Moira, why is Jean's file pulled up on this monitor?" Charles asked very curiously, as he saw Jean Grey's name displayed on the computer.

"Oh that. I've been so busy with everything else around here, I'm just now getting around to gathering all of the data that I've collected on Jean over the years. I'm preparing to place them in permanent archival storage. I think that deep down I was just putting it off, in some kind of foolish attempt to pretend that she really isn't gone." Moira started, as she began to reminisce on one of Charles Xavier's first students.

"It seems like only yesterday that you brought Scott, Ororo, and Jean here. Scott was such a sad sight. The poor lad was virtually blind, unable to open his eyes for fear of destroying everything around him. You came here desperately searching for a way to help him control those optic blasts of his."

"Jean was catatonic, still reeling from the after effects of using her powers for the first time. You told me that when a car had hit Jean's best friend, that Jean reached out with her telepathy to try and comfort her. It must've been horrible for her to unknowingly go into her best friend's mind, as she lay dying right in front of her. It's hard enough to simply watch another person die. But to experience a psionic death knell first-hand, I don't think I can even begin to imagine that."

"And then there was Ororo, the teenaged weather goddess. She was still trying to learn how to use her powers, without wiping the lot of us clean off of the face of the planet. I remember I nearly keeled over laughing when you said that those three children were going to be Earth's greatest protection, and against Magneto of all people. Looking back, I guess I'm lucky that I didn't wager you on the fact."

"I think that it was as much luck, as it was planning on my part, that we even survived that first battle with Magneto." Charles admitted.

Moira then got up from her chair and went over to the computer terminal, cuing up the information database about Jean on the larger computer screen in the room.

"I wanted to show you something, before I put all of this into storage." Moira began, "Jean had asked me not to tell anybody about this, at least until we could make more sense of it."

"What are you talking about?" Charles asked, unaware that Jean had secretly gone to Moira for help.

"Look at these readings from the initial tests that I ran on Jean when you first brought her to me all of those years ago." Moira said, as she showed him the information on the monitor, "These readings show a near Omega-class Psi, in the body of a teenage girl. It's no small wonder that she was catatonic at the time. On top of hearing her best friend die, she was struggling with having such an immense amount of power suddenly thrust upon her. She had basically shut down most of her mind as a result, placing herself in a state of semi-suspended animation. She seemed like a walking zombie when I first saw her. Her only relief was the fact that you were able to telepathically place mental blocks on her power, bringing them down to a more manageable level that she could begin to handle."

"Now look at these." Moira said, as she cued up a second set of power readings from Jean, "These are results that Jean sent to me from Westchester, after she returned from helping to stop Magneto on Liberty Island. The first chart shows her power levels when she's not using them. They are virtually identical to her chart as a child. But this is what had her, and me, worried."

Moira cued up another graphic, and Professor Charles Xavier could not believe what he was seeing with his own two eyes.

"Good Lord!" Charles exclaimed, "Those readings run straight off of the chart."

"Indeed, this second graphic shows Jean pushing her telepathic and telekinetic powers beyond the normal boundaries that she usually stayed within. The mental blocks on her powers that you had placed in her mind all of those years ago were still there, helping her to control her abilities. But the blocks had started to erode, and while they still allowed her to maintain her focus while using her powers, her powers themselves were increasing exponentially. She desperately wanted to know why she was losing control.  She told me that she feared she was a walking nuclear explosion, just waiting to happen." Moira finished informing him.

"Why did she keep this a secret from the rest of us?" Charles inquired.

"She wanted to be sure about the facts, before she upset the rest of ye. If your mental blocks were'nae working anymore, she didn't know how she was going to maintain control much longer. But, that whole mess at Alkali Lake happened before I had the chance to confirm with her what she believed." Moira replied.

"And what is your confirmation?" Charles asked.

"That given enough time, Jean may have had access to unimaginable power, the likes of which no mutant has ever possessed before." Moira said as she took off her glasses and looked at Charles, who was sitting and still looking at the read-outs on the monitor.

Professor Xavier realized, for the first time, the desperation that Jean must have been feeling inside. He better understood the decision that she made on that fateful day at Alkali Lake. It was a decision to protect those that Jean loved, more than life itself, from the danger that she believed her powers were beginning to pose…

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Decisions Part II coming soon…


	18. Decisions Pt II

A/N: Special thanks to MoonlightPhoenix3, SperryDee, & Lucas'sgirl for your reviews of the last chapter.

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As the doorknob to a small off-campus apartment near the University of California at Berkley slowly turned and opened, three individuals entered the residence, each one as unique and different as could be.

The first person just looked like your average college student, but looks can be deceiving. Behind the medium-length blonde hair and ruggedly handsome features that he inherited from his father, the young man was a walking and breathing energy cell, capable of destroying small mountains if he had the desire to. Fortunately, he was far more content with the rather low-key lifestyle that he currently led.

The second entrant to the apartment was a little harder not to notice. If the toned and well-defined physique that she possessed did not manage to catch a passerby's attention, then the haunting green eyes and lime-colored hair that ran halfway down her back most likely would. Luckily for her, being in college meant that such an attribute easily blended in with the other young adults there, many of whom were experimenting with new and alternative fashions in one form or another. But, her appearance only told part of the reason that she was different. It could also be illustrated by a compass that she had in her possession, one which no longer worked. While on a recent archaeological dig in the Egyptian desert that was sponsored by their university, that particular piece of equipment became, unintentionally, magnetized.

The third and final person entered the apartment carrying a hiking backpack that he sat down next to the other backpacks laying against a wall by the front door. He was a man in his late twenties, wasn't a college student himself, and there didn't really seem to be anything about him that stood out. He had dark brown hair, a slender build, and wore a very stylish pair of ruby-red sunglasses. The sunglasses were not worn for fashion's sake; he donned them to keep the optic blasts that constantly radiated from his eyes from destroying everything in sight.

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"I'm going to the fridge to get a cold beer, you two want anything?" Alex Summers, also known by the more descriptive name of Havok that he had been given years before, asked the other two individuals as they sat down in the living room.

"I'll take one." Scott Summers, brother to Alex and also called Cyclops, answered.

"How about you Lorna?" Alex asked her.

"I'll take a bottled water, 'Lex." Lorna Dane, who had been given the name of Polaris because of her ability to manipulate electromagnetic and gravitational fields replied, "I'm going to check the voice messages, and see who called while we've been gone."

Alex returned to the sofa, sitting the water bottle on a small table in front of him and handed his older brother, seated in an adjacent seat, one of the two beers that he had been carrying.

"I have to admit, I didn't think I was going to like spending nearly two months out in the desert at an excavation site, but it turned out better than I thought it would." Scott said as he held the bottle.

"It is pretty amazing to see first hand how other cultures lived centuries ago. I guess that's why Lorna and me decided to major in archaeology and ancient civilizations." Alex said, as he sat down in front of the TV and picked up the remote, "Speaking of ancient history, I'm going to see what's been going on in the world while we were in the middle of nowhere. We have one of those digital TV recorder boxes, so that I can keep up with the news while we're out doing field research and so that Lorna doesn't miss one of her crime-drama shows. There must be about a dozen of them coming on now, and it seems like she watches every single one."

"It's not my fault the storylines suck you in." Lorna said, as she sat down on the sofa next to Alex, continuing to scroll through the numerous voice-mail messages on the phone, "You'd know for yourself if you gave them a chance, instead of falling asleep ten minutes into it."

"Maybe that tells you something about my opinion on them right there." Alex laughed.

Scott didn't say anything but simply smiled, as he listened to his brother and his brother's fiancée having a discussion about quality television programming.

"I guess I might as well be speaking Greek to you, with all of this TV talk. I forgot your idea of fun is running a Level-12 Danger Room session on a Friday night." Alex said as he teased Scott.

"I can't help it if my definition of an entertaining evening is slightly different from the rest of the world's." Scott continued smiling as he responded.

"I can understand where you're coming from." Lorna said to Scott, "You know, I didn't think that I'd ever find myself missing the Danger Room. But it was nice to be able to go down there sometimes, and just pound out your aggressions on some life-sized robotic dummies." Lorna told them.

"In that case, you'd love the upgrades that we've made to it since you two were students. It's state of the art now, and makes you feel like you're actually in whatever environment is cued up in the simulator." Scott informed them.

"I wish we could have seen it when we were there last year, but we had to hurry back here for finals." Alex said, as he referred to the brief time that he and Lorna were away from school, to attend Jean Grey's memorial service.

"Speaking of upstate New York, I have a message here for you Scott." Lorna said, as she handed the phone to him, "I'll replay it from the beginning, it's a message from Professor Xavier."

As Scott listened intently to the message left by the Professor, Lorna picked up the remote from the coffee table in front of them and turned on one of her favorite shows that had come on a few weeks before. As Alex and Lorna watched the program, they noticed that Scott's smile turned into a more serious expression.

"Scott, everything all right?" Alex asked him.

"Yes, at least I hope. I had been thinking of heading back to the school within the next week, but now I think I might try to catch the next available flight home." Scott replied, "The Professor said that one of the student's had a death in his family, a young man named Peter Rasputin. His family lives in a remote region of Russia, so the Professor was taking him and a couple of other students there for the service."

"Poor kid." Lorna responded, "But that doesn't seem like a reason for you to get uptight, I'm sure the Professor can handle things over there."

"That's not what has me concerned, it's what the Professor said afterwards." Scott continued, "He told me not worry too, that he had left the school in very good hands."

"So, what's the big deal about that?" Alex inquired.

"I'm just worried that those 'good' hands have adamantium claws sticking straight out of them." Scott revealed.

"You mean that new guy, Logan, that you were telling us about?" Alex asked, "I thought you said you two had gotten past whatever differences you had before?"

"More or less. We had at least gotten to the point where we were able to tolerate each other, before I left to head down to the Cayman Islands." Scott answered.

"You never did tell us how your trip was, before you headed here." Lorna stated, "How did you manage to keep yourself occupied down there?"

"To be honest, I spent the first couple of weeks locked in my hotel room, only opening the door for room service." Scott confessed, "It was where Jean and me had went a few times, when we actually got some personal time to ourselves. But it just didn't feel right to try and have fun there now, without her. If I was able to cry, I probably would have drowned myself with tears in my room."

"If this is upsetting you, we can talk about something else." Lorna said empathetically to Scott.

"No, I'm fine. As a matter of fact, after those first couple of weeks down there, I came to a realization. I knew that Jean would have had a fit if she saw me sitting around, having a one-man pity party in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. So, I decided to start learning how to live again and try to at least have a little fun, even if it was only one step at a time."

"And what kind of fun did you have exactly?" Alex asked very curiously.

"Well, I did some wind-sailing and scuba diving off of the island's coastal reef. I also went and checked out some of the local hotspots, and even learned how to…karaoke." Scott said, as he recited that third activity while in the Cayman Islands in a softer, more hushed tone.

Lorna and Alex just looked at Scott, and then each other, in total disbelief of what they had just heard.

"It's not that we don't believe you, big brother, I'm just trying to picture you hitting a high note with a microphone in your hand." Alex said to him.

"You haven't heard anything, until you've heard my rendition of Every Breath You Take." Scott said with a slight grin, as even he realized how strange it was for others to imagine him doing something like that.

"Uh…yeah..." Lorna said slowly.

"Anyways, I guess it'll have to remain one of my 'hidden' talents." Scott responded.

"You just better hope that none of your telepathic students happens to catch that stray thought floating around." Alex said to him.

"So, how do you still like being a teacher, especially with as many students as you say are there now?" Lorna asked.

"It's good, but you're not kidding about the number of students we have now. Back when you were going there, the teaching staff consisted of just the Professor and me. And the student body was made up of you two, plus John Proudstar. Now, the school is already past it's one-fourth capacity mark." Scott informed them, "Within the last ten years, it seems like the number of young mutants appearing has exploded, and not even the Professor seems to know why."

"Used to be, you could wander that huge mansion of his for hours without running into another living soul." Alex added, as he started to reminisce a little, "It seems like it was only yesterday that me and Lorna were tagging along with you when you went to pick Jean up on Friday nights, when she and Ororo were both going to NYU. As usual, Thunderbird would go off by himself somewhere on the grounds of the estate, and the Professor would go and lock himself in his private Ready Room below the mansion."

"Jean could've really flipped out at you for dragging your kid brother and some freaky looking girl with green hair along on your dates, but she was so nice to us. She complimented me on how pretty she thought I was, back at a time when I couldn't even stand to look at myself in a mirror." Lorna added, "She even managed to get me out of that defensive shell that I had put up around myself."

"That was Jean all right." Scott said, as he saw how the woman that he loved with all of his being, had left her mark on others as well.

"Hey, why don't we go out and give you a nice farewell dinner, before you head back to Westchester?" Lorna suggested.

"All right," Scott grinned, "As long as my little brother is buying."

"Thanks, Cyke." Alex smirked, as the trio got up to get ready for one last night out on the town together.

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Next Chapter: The X-Men search for Allison, and they run into some unexpected trouble…


	19. Ghosts from the Past

A/N: Special thanks to **Lucas'sgirl** & **SperryDee** for your reviews of the last chapter.

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It was a slightly overcast day in County Mayo, Ireland, but Theresa Cassidy could care less. She was extremely happy to be back at the home, a home that she hadn't seen since leaving to attend school in the U.S. more than a year and a half ago.

"I know I was joking with you the other day on Muir Island, but are you sure this place isn't haunted?" Kitty Pryde, the young mutant also known as Shadowcat, asked the girl walking beside her as they ventured down one of the numerous corridors inside of the giant castle called Cassidy Keep.

Cassidy Keep was an architectural marvel of its day, mainly because of its thick and steep walls, but also for the fact that it had been built near a cliff overlooking the sea and remained as steady as the day it was built. The unusual location was meant to provide a challenge to any nearby invaders that dared to attempt to overtake the castle. Cassidy Keep was also notable for being one of the few castles in the country that never fell during the numerous sieges laid upon it during it's nearly 800 year history.

"What makes ye ask a silly question like that?" Theresa Cassidy, who had been nicknamed Siryn, asked.

"I don't know, it just feels like we're being watched is all." Kitty told her, as they passed numerous artifacts such as the medieval suits of armor and weaponry that lined the hallway.

"You sure ye're not just comin' down with a case of teenage paranoia?" Theresa smiled, as they continued walking.

"I'm not paranoid." Kitty replied, "And I'm telling you, we're not alone."

"Well, ye're the freakin' ghost. Just walk up to whatever it is and say, 'Boo!'" Theresa smirked.

"Ha, Ha, very funny." Kitty replied in a very unimpressed tone, as she stopped and folded her arms in front of her, "Let's just get out of here, so we can catch up with Peter and Rahne."

"We'd already be outside with them, if you weren't such an internet-junkie." Theresa told her, as the two girls entered a staircase that lead up to the ground floor level.

"First you say I'm paranoid, now you talk like I spend every waking moment on the web. You sure got me diagnosed, Dr. Phil." Kitty quickly retorted, "I just wanted to get the latest on a website for technology buffs that I go to, and so I could chat with other 'tech-ies'."

"Yeah, but that was like two hours ago." Theresa stated

"I didn't chain you down and make you wait around." Kitty told her.

"The only reason I waited around was because you're not that familiar with the lower levels of Cassidy Keep. The last thing I need is for you to phase and get lost down here. If ye did, there's a good chance we would never find ye." Theresa replied.

"I happen to have a superb sense of direction, if you must know." Kitty said.

"Sure ye do." Theresa said mockingly, as the two girls made it to the top of the staircase.

Theresa and Kitty walked down another corridor, and then through a door that led to the outside of the castle. Then they strolled across the huge courtyard and eventually made it to where Peter and Rahne were. Peter was sitting out on a large rock, near the edge of the cliff that overlooked the ocean. He was busily creating a drawing of his current surroundings, and this time the locale around Cassidy Keep was his subject.

"How's it coming, big guy?" Kitty asked Peter, as she walked over and placed one arm around him. She greeted him with a very sensual kiss to the side of his face.

"It does not quite look like the way that I had envisioned it." Peter Rasputin, who also went by the name of Colossus replied. He stopped his sketching for a moment, and held his own work in front of him at arm's length.

"I think it is beautiful." The newest addition to the group, Rahne Sinclair, told Peter. She had been lying on her stomach on the newly sprouting springtime grass, with her face resting against the palms of her hands as she quietly watched Peter work, "The way ye can draw, Tis surely a gift from God."

"I am flattered that you believe so Rahne, but I have serious doubts about that." Peter replied.

"Sometimes you're just too hard on yuirself." Theresa told Peter, as she stood and inspected the sketch for herself.

"They say masters of their craft are their own toughest critic." Kitty added, as she inspected the drawing as well.

While Kitty, Theresa, and Rahne debated the artistic merit of Peter's work, two other bystanders were watching them. They were sitting together at a small outdoor table located on a balcony high above the group. The pair had taken notice of the four teenagers, who were busy talking with one another down by the cliff side.

"I can't believe how fast Me little girl has grown up, and in just the relatively short amount of time that she's been away t'Charles' school." Sean Cassidy, the former Interpol agent and ally of the X-Men known as Banshee said, as he talked about his teenaged daughter Theresa.

"As they all have. "Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm for obvious reasons replied, as they looked at her students, "In many ways, they have been left little choice by the world that we live in today."

"Aye. Especially considerin' the way that things keep goin' from bad t'worse for mutants everywhere, I suppose it's only t'be expected." Sean told her.

As soon as Sean made his last statement, the caretaker of Cassidy Keep and longtime friend of Sean's, Eamon O'Donnell, came outside to the balcony. He was carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups for Sean and Ororo.

"Eamon, old man, why don't ye sit and join us for a bit?" Sean said to him.

"Thanks for the offer, perhaps I will join ye and the lady a bit later. Right now, I have some other chores that need attendin' to." Eamon replied, as he took the tray and went back inside.

After Eamon had left, Ororo made an observation about Sean.

"I never took you for the type to observe a custom such as afternoon tea." Ororo said jokingly to Sean.

"This old rascal still has a lot of surprises left in him." Sean smiled, as they each took a sip from their cups. After a moment of silence, Sean decided to ask Ororo a question that had been on his mind ever since she and her students' had arrived. It was a subject that he had been waiting for the right opportunity to bring up, and at a time when his daughter and the other kids weren't around.

"Ororo, not to pry or anything, but I've been wondering how ye've been holding up?" Sean asked her sincerely.

This was a question that Ororo had gotten used to over the last few months, and she had come to expect it. She and Jean had been through so much together since arriving at Professor Xavier's School all of those years ago. In that time, they had formed a very close bond to one another.

"It has become easier to accept that she is gone, as time has passed. Jean sacrificed herself to save the rest of us, and that does bring a small amount of consolation, I suppose. Ororo answered.

"Jean was a fine lass. It's just a shame though, she and Scott seemed t'be so happy together. I remember vividly how I felt when Theresa's mother, my darlin' Maeve, died. I've been where Scott is now, and I know it can get t'be a mighty lonely place." Sean told Ororo.

"Considering your own personal experiences in such a matter, I am sure that Scott would like to talk with you about what he is currently feeling. Perhaps I should tell him to give you a call, when he returns to the mansion." Ororo suggested.

"Aye, it'd be nice t'talk to him again." Sean responded.

Sean and Ororo each took a sip of their tea. Then, Sean spoke again.

"Ye know, when I asked how ye were doin', I wasn't necessarily talking about what happened with Jean." Sean said.

Ororo looked at him for a second, unsure of what exactly Sean did mean.

"I know what happened with her hurt everyone deeply, but I've noticed a…difference in you for some years now." Sean elaborated, "Lookin' at Terry and the others down there, it reminds me of you and your classmates when ye were that age. Ororo, ye used t'have such a sparkle in yuir eye, not even the stars in heaven could match it. But I have'nae seen it for some time now, not ever since..."

Ororo knew that Sean's line of questioning was heading towards a subject that few others ever brought up with her, and one that even she hardly ever thought about herself these days.

"What you mean is, ever since Warren and I broke up." Ororo replied, "Sean, that was a long time ago."

"I know, and judgin' by your demeanor it seems like ye're still carryin' that hurt around. Ye used t'be bubblin' with joy, but now ye seem so reserved, like ye've cut that part of yourself off." Sean told her.

"We all change as we get older, and we learn that life is not as simple, or as kind, as we would like to believe." Ororo replied.

"Well, take it from an old man that's been there. Cuttin' yuirself off t'avoid the anguish that life can throw at you, can also keep ye from experiencing the intense bliss that it has t'offer." Sean told her, as he took another sip of his tea.

Ororo sat and sipped her tea as well. She considered for a few moments whether there was any truth in the words that Sean had just spoken to her, and whether love was really worth the potential heartache that came along with it.

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Meanwhile, half a world away, other individuals that resided at Xavier's School for the Gifted were busy looking for a young woman that they believed to be in grave danger. But, they were having little luck with their search so far.

"This is like the third night in a row that we've been searching for Allison with that little gizmo of yours, and so far we've turned up zilch." Jubilee said, as she, Bobby Drake, and Henry McCoy walked up the stairwell of an apartment complex, located in the section of New York City simply referred to as 'Hell's Kitchen'.

"I mean, so far we've managed to identify two mutants that we weren't looking for, a little old lady and some middle-aged guy that ran off when I looked at him for more than two seconds."

"Even though she wasn't at the address that I previously suspected, I believe that she is still in the general vicinity." Hank replied to her, as the trio walked down the hallway of the third floor of the complex.

"You'd think with the kind of money she's made, that Allison would fine somewhere a little more upscale to hide out." Jubilee said, as she commented on the less than ideal environment that defined Hell's Kitchen.

"Yeah, but if she's trying to hide out, this is the last place anyone is going to come looking for her." Bobby pointed out.

The entire group then stopped, as the portable Cerebro device began to give a strong readout in front of apartment number 307.

"Do you think this is it?" Bobby asked Hank.

"This handheld mutant locator is getting fairly strong readings from behind this door." Hank answered.

"Well what I don't understand is why we're showin' up here in our X-Men uniforms?" Jubilee asked as they stood in front of the door, "Like she's not gonna be freaked out enough by the three of us wanting to talk to her about the finer points of her DNA."

"It'll at least give some credibility to our story, when we try to explain the reason why we're here Jubes." Bobby answered.

"At least Hank over here has a regular suit, not one of these dark blue, baby uniforms like me and you." Jubilee told Bobby.

"You should feel lucky. At least you don't have to wear those uniforms that the original X-Men did, back when we first started training. Leather is heavenly in comparison. Plus, with the unstable molecules that I took the liberty of adding to our current attire, they should be far more durable now." Hank said to her.

"Besides, it's not like it really matters. You're wearing your jacket over your uniform anyways." Bobby said to Jubilee.

"Now that we've had our little discussion on super-hero apparel, I'm going to see if anyone is home." Hank said, as he proceeded to ring the doorbell.

The X-Men stood and waited to see if anyone was going to answer the door.

Eventually, someone did.

"Whatever you're selling, I don't want any." A female voice said to the group as she opened the door partway, but left the security chain latched to it.

"We're not selling anything, Miss Blaire. We just wanted to take a few minutes of your time to talk. We think we might be able to help you." Hank replied.

"First off, whoever you are, I don't know why you think that I'm that person. Second, I don't have time to hear your spiel about converting to whatever religion it is that you currently subscribe to either." The voice from behind the door replied.

After that last statement, the woman inside of the apartment started to close the door. But she stopped when another voice spoke to her.

"Look, we just think you might still be a target of the guys who sent the Blob to mess up your concert." Jubilee said to her.

"And why would I listen to any of this, especially from any of you?" The voice asked.

"Because, I almost became a permanent part of your band's equipment when he threw that amplifier at me." Jubilee stated.

After Jubilee's statement, the X-Men could see someone peer from behind the door. Then the door shut. The sound of the security chain being unlatched from the door could be heard, before it was completely opened up to them.

"You've got five minutes." Allison Blaire said, as she invited the three X-Men into her apartment.

As they walked inside, the X-Men noticed that Allison had changed her hair color from the golden blonde color that it had been before, to a deep shade of crimson. They also saw that she had cut her long hair to a shorter length that stopped around her shoulders.

"The 'do' looks nice on you." Jubilee said, as she paid Allison a compliment.

"It, plus a pair of sunglasses, makes it a lot easier to move around. People's eyes are usually drawn to my hair and not my now infamous face when I'm out in public." Allison replied, as they walked into her small living room.

Hank and Jubilee sat down on the sofa in the room, while Allison sat in a large chair to their side and Bobby grabbed a chair from the kitchen and brought it over to sit down on the other side of Allison.

"Well, you said you wanted to talk." Allison told them, as she waited to hear what they had to say.

"We understand that you have had some difficulties in your life, since your status as a mutant was revealed to the world." Hank started, "We wanted to let you know that we are mutants as well, and that…"

"And what?" Allison interrupted, "How great it is to be a mutant, and how wonderful it is to have some extra ability because of a genetic abnormality you were born with. 'Cause if that what you came here to say, I can save both of us a lot of time and tell you how much being a mutant has completely ruined my life."

"I know that things haven't been easy for you since that aspect of your life became public knowledge." Hank continued, "I've also experienced first hand the same kind difficulties that you are facing, but we can offer you place where you'll be safe, and can learn to use your abilities for the betterment of mankind."

"If that's all, then may I ask you all to please leave? I don't want to learn to be a better mutant. I just want my old life back, the way it was before all of this craziness started." Allison said, as her anger turned to tears that ran down her face.

"Okay, we'll leave," Hank said, "But, I have just one question before we do. I was wondering if you know why Mr. Dukes showed up at your concert in the first place? It just doesn't seem to be a random coincidence."

Allison sat in her chair and remained silent. She was contemplating on whether to tell these three strangers exactly what she did know. Finally, she let out a sigh and responded.

"Probably because I wouldn't go along with the scheme of the people that sent him." Allison replied.

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked her.

"A couple of years ago, members of a group calling itself the Council of Chosen contacted me about helping them." Allison started, as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "I was approached by a man named Harold Leland, and he told me that he knew I was a mutant. He also told me that they wanted my help in getting some inside information on a man named Edward Buckman, who happened to be an acquaintance of mine. Leland said that Buckman was involved in some program that posed a threat to mutants everywhere, and if I helped them, I would be guaranteed a position in their Council. I refused to go along with their plan, and I later went and told Edward about what was going on. The Council later sent word through a messenger that I would pay for that decision, and now it looks like they've come to collect."

"Who is this Buckman guy anyways?" Jubilee inquired.

"Edward was a very wealthy and powerful business man. He belonged to an organization called the Hellfire Club, a place where the cream of high-society in this country gathered, so that they could be around other rich and powerful people. Anyways, he was part of some secret sect inside of the Hellfire Club, but he and the other members of this secret group were having some sort of disagreement." Allison revealed.

"How do you know all of this?" Hank asked her.

"Because, Ed and I were…extremely close. He took me to the Hellfire Club a few times as his special guest, and he also hinted at a few of the things that went on behind the scenes, stuff that even involved some high-ranking officials in our own government, all before he..." Allison paused.

"Before what?" Jubilee asked.

"Before he died. It happened not too long after this secret council approached me. The investigators ruled it an accident, but I know better. They killed him and then they managed to cover it up, probably with some inside help.

"Then, perhaps you should reconsider your decision about coming with us?" Hank asked her.

"I don't know." Allison answered, with reluctance audible in her voice.

While Hank and Jubilee were talking to Allison, Bobby had walked over to one of the windows to take a look outside. While he was leaning against the window ledge, a bright flash outside caught Bobby's eye, like a mirror reflecting in the dark. He looked closer at the building across the street, and could see numerous people moving around on its roof. Then he noticed something else that really caught his eye.

"Hey guys, I think everyone should hit the floor, quick!" Bobby shouted, as he ran over to the others and they all jumped down.

Within a matter of seconds, the sound of bullets piercing the windows of Allison's apartment rang out in the nighttime air…

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Next Chapter: Hellfire comes to Hell's Kitchen, with a few unexpected surprises…


	20. A View to a Kill

A/N: Thank you **Lucas'sgirl** for reviewing the last chapter. And don't worry, some **major** Kiotr action is coming up in the chapter after this one.

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In a neighborhood like Hell's Kitchen, crime and violence was a nightly occurrence. But, leave it to the X-Men to have to take that one notch above the norm.

"Well, do you have any idea who's shootin' at us, Bossman?" Jubilee said to Beast, as they, Iceman, and Allison Blaire sought cover on the floor of Allison's apartment, after a hail of bullets began to sing through the windows.

"Perhaps, someone wanting to voice his or her displeasure at Ms. Blaire's last album?" Beast joked, as he always did in life-threatening situations, all the while trying to come up with a plan to get them out of their current predicament.

"You're making a joke!" Allison said in disbelief, "We're being shot at, and you're actually able to joke about it!?"

"Just as long as he doesn't start doing impressions, we'll be okay." Jubilee told her, as the group laid under a medium-sized table in Allison's living room.

"Yeah, his 'Jerry Seinfeld' leaves a lot to be desired." Iceman added.

"Unbelievable! All of you are completely insane." Allison responded, as the bullets sailing overhead ceased for the time-being.

Just then, the sound of air imploding inside of the room signaled the arrival of additional individual to Allison's apartment…

**Bamf**!

"The 'Incredible Nightcrawler', here at your service." Nightcrawler said, as he teleported into the room close to Allison.

"Who the hell are you!" A startled Allison shouted, as she was unprepared for the sudden appearance of Nightcrawler, as well as the sulfur-tinged smoke that accompanied his mutant method of travel.

"Don't worry. Looks to the contrary, he's one of the good guys. Isn't that right 'Crawler?" Jubilee said, trying to calm Allison down.

"This is just too much. First someone turns my apartment into a shooting gallery, then weird people start popping in and out of here, I don't think I can handle…" Allison started to say, before she fainted.

"This always happens when I enter a room, it must be my overwhelmingly handsome looks." Kurt smiled, as he knelt down on the floor.

"More likely, it's the way the room needs some major airing out when you 'port in." Jubilee retorted.

After that statement, the hail of bullets from outside started up once more.

"Mein Gott, what in the world is going on?" Nightcrawler asked, "I heard gunshots while I was waiting in the X-Van outside. So, I teleported to a nearby building, and I could see masked men shooting at you from the apartment complex that is next to us."

"Nightcrawler, get Ms. Blaire to safety. Iceman, Jubilee, and myself will see what we can do about our new 'friends' outside." Beast said to the group. Nightcrawler grabbed Allison and instantly disappeared, while Beast, Jubilee, and Iceman crawled their way over to one of the windows.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the building opposite from the apartment complex, stood a small group of about five men with large machine guns in hand.

"When Shaw said that he wanted us to find Allison Blaire, I thought he meant as in finding her and bringing her back." The man called Reese, one of the hired mercenaries that worked for the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club said. He and his comrades, who were all dressed in dark blue uniforms and wore blue hoods with the face area painted white, stopped firing their large armaments for a moment to reload.

"Those were our original orders. That is, until I identified that one of the X-Men, the one called Beast, was inside. The new orders from up above were for us to simply eliminate the whole bunch, before they got the chance to cause us any trouble." Cole, another of the Inner Circle's hit men and also leader of the squad, said in response.

"Well, they're about to get their wish." Another man named Mancusi said, as he pulled out a grenade launcher and prepared to fire it at Allison's apartment.

Just as Mancusi prepared to blow apart Allison's apartment, which was in the middle of the third floor of the complex across from him, he was shocked as the grenade launcher he was holding suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"Naughty, naughty. You should learn to play nicer, _schwein_." Nightcrawler smirked, as he held the launcher in his grasp a few feet away from the gunmen.

"Give that back, freak!" Cole shouted, as he and his men began to fire their weapons at the blue-skinned mutant. But, before the first bullet left their machine guns, Nightcrawler was long gone.

The armed men stopped their barrage of bullets, just in time to be greeted by a bright and hot flash of energy around them.

"Hey dweebs, anyone tell you that it's totally rude to go shooting up someone's home?" Jubilee said, as she and Beast rode on the back of an ice-slide that was heading towards the mercenaries, courtesy of Iceman himself.

"Blow them outta the sky!" Reese said, as he and the other men started shooting at the X-Men, who were circling right above them on the ice-slide. As some of the bullets began to cut through the ice, Beast decided on a new course of action.

"Jubilee, this is where you and I make our departure." Beast said, as he took hold of Jubilee and the two of them jumped down to the roof of the apartment complex, knocking out one of the gunmen in the process.

Jubilee immediately fired a plasma blast at another gunman and knocked him down. Nightcrawler reappeared on the rooftop and punched the man named Reese in the face, before taking his weapon from him. Last, but not least, Iceman who was still riding around on his slide, created two sharp ice shards and threw them at Cole and Mancusi. The shards hit their machine guns, damaging the weapons and making it impossible to fire them any further.

"This fight's over, let's get out of here." Cole called out to his men, as they exited the rooftop. Some used the fire escape, while others exited through a door that lead to the stairs inside of the building.

As the X-Men watched the gunmen make their departure, they themselves regrouped.

"Is Allison all right?" Hank asked Kurt, as he stood on the rooftop while Kurt crawled on the side of one of the building's walls.

"She is fine. I took her to the X-Van, and then moved it to a more secure location. The beautiful Fraulein is resting inside." Kurt replied.

"Maybe we should think about getting out of here too." Bobby said, "The police are gonna be here any minute."

"Pop-sicle's right. Bein' shot at is not my idea of a good time, and the last thing I need is something ruining my permanent record now." Jubilee also said.

With that, Bobby created another ice-slide that took Jubilee and Hank down to the ground, while Kurt teleported himself from the rooftop.

As they gathered on the ground, the four X-Men prepared to go to the alley where Kurt had parked the X-Van and then make their leave. But, they were surprised when an unexpected observer appeared on the sidewalk not too far away.

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard the sounds of gunshots earlier." A man wearing sunglasses and carrying a walking cane asked them.

"Alright? Does it look like everything's alright?" Jubilee said to him in a perturbed voice, "We just had some goons shooting at us, and you're gonna ask is everything alright?"

"Jube, I think you should lay off." Bobby said to her.

"Really, and why is that?" Jubilee quickly replied.

"It appears that our concerned friend is visually impaired." Hank told her.

"Oh, man." Jubilee said, as she finally calmed down and took a look at the man, "Look, I'm sorry. I was so spooked by everything that was going on, I didn't look to see…"

"Don't worry about it, this is can be a dangerous neighborhood. I suppose I've gotten used to only having to hear the nightly ritual of what goes on in Hell's Kitchen, but sometimes I forget that those that actually have to see it with their own two eyes may not have that same level of comfort." The man replied.

"Well, I better understand now why you haven't run off screaming after seeing me." Kurt said to him.

"Appearances don't mean that much to me. Besides, I'm sure that I've seen things stranger than whatever you may be referring to about yourself." The man replied.

"But I thought you said you were blind?" Jubilee asked the man.

The man didn't say anything, but let a devilish grin be his only response.

"Oh yeah, a joke." Jubilee said to him, with a sense of embarrassment.

"Guess I have a weird sense of humor." He told her.

"Geez, Jube, can you try to be any more insensitive to this guy, than you've already been?" Jubilee thought to herself.

"I believe that we should get going. I know that you said you are familiar with this neighborhood, but are you sure that you're going to be alright out here by yourself, Mr…" Hank said to him.

"Murdock. Matt Murdock." Matt revealed to them, "No, I'll be just fine. This is where I live. This is my home."

"Well, hope we hook up again some day, Mr. Murdock." Jubilee said, as she and the X-Men quickly made their way to the alley, where Kurt had stashed the X-Van.

"I have a funny feeling that we'll be seeing each other again." Matt smiled, as he thought to himself. Then he turned to head towards home.

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Next Chapter: Kitty and Peter have a very tender moment together, right before their world, as well as the rest of the X-Men's, are changed forever…


	21. War Dawn

A/N: Special thanks to **Lucas'sgirl **for your review of the last chapter. Looks like you're the only one still interested in what's going on in this story, so I hope you enjoy what's up next…

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Nearly a week had passed since Ororo, Kitty, Peter, Rahne, and Theresa had traveled to Ireland. They had gone there to visit Theresa's home in County Mayo, but like all good things, their brief sojourn to Cassidy Keep had come to an end. The group was slowly making it's way back to Muir Island, and decided to spend a day in Ullapool. Ullapool was a moderately-sized fishing town on the main land, not too far from where Dr. MacTaggert's research facility resided.

The group had split up to go shopping, and they wandered through various parts of the town. As the evening slowly crept to nightfall, Kitty and Peter had found themselves in front of a small clothing shop having a discussion about the ensemble in the shop's front window.

"You know, I think it's nice." Kitty said, as the couple gazed at an authentic Scottish outfit on display, which included a plaid kilt.

"I suppose." Peter simply replied, as he looked as well.

"C'mon," Kitty told Peter, as she tugged at his rather large forearm, "Why don't you try it on?"

"Katya! I would feel ridiculous wearing something like that." Peter replied, as he thought about himself in the outfit.

"You're just being silly." Kitty responded, "Besides, I think you'd look super-hot in a kilt."

"It is too bad that we will not be finding out." Peter smiled, as he sat down on a nearby bench.

"Scaredy-cat. But, you can't blame a girl for trying to get you to make a major fashion statement." Kitty remarked, as she turned towards the shop, "I'll be back in a sec, I just wanna go inside and see if I can find any nice souvenirs."

Peter nodded his head, and watched the girl that he had recently declared his love for walk into the shop, while he sat and awaited her return.

While Peter and Kitty were at the small clothing shop in Ullapool, two of their peers were busy occupying themselves at a local music store a few blocks away.

"What do you think about this one?" Theresa asked Rahne, as she held up a recently released debut CD from a new band.

"I would'nae really know. Reverend Craig said most modern music was sinful, and he forbade me from listenin' to it." Rahne replied.

"Are ye serious?" Theresa responded in astonishment.

"Aye." Rahne answered, as she held the CD and looked at the cover art.

"Well, Reverend 'whatever-his-name-is', isn't here now. Come over here with me." Theresa said, as she pulled Rahne over to one of the listening stations inside of the store. She wanted Rahne to hear a couple of the songs on the CD, and then give her opinion of it.

Rahne had finally gotten a taste of the modern pop-culture that she had been denied for so long, and instantly found it both strange and exciting. As Rahne stood in the store and listened to the music pumping through the headphones, a small smile slowly came across her face.

Meanwhile, their adult chaperones were sitting in a local pub, about a block down the street from them.

"It's been awhile since I've been around these parts." Sean Cassidy stated.

"You know, you did not have to accompany us back to Muir Island." Ororo said, as she sat and talked with Theresa's father, "But I am glad that you did, it has at least given me another adult that I can talk to."

"It was no trouble at all. Besides, it gives me a chance t'see Charles again. Last time we were together was when we all tangled with me crooked cousin, and his giant of a step-brother." Sean Cassidy responded, as he referred to his cousin, 'The Black' Tom Cassidy, and Cain Marko, who went by the more descriptive moniker of 'The Unstoppable' Juggernaut.

"Let us hope that this reunion will be far less eventful." Ororo smiled, as they both took sips from their drinks.

As Ororo and Sean continued to talk, Kitty had found what she was looking for in the shop on the other side of town. She had decided on a teal and burgundy scarf as a small memento of her trip. She had hurried to pay for it, so that she could show it to Peter and get his opinion of her purchase. But when Kitty came back outside, she saw that he was otherwise occupied.

"Ooh, ye have such big, strong muscles!" A local, and very attractive, Scottish girl said to Peter as she sat on the bench next to him and felt his upper arm with her hands.

"Are ye sure yuir name is'nae Clark Kent?" Another equally appealing, and slightly older local girl said, as she stood a few feet away from him.

When Kitty saw the scene in front of her, all of the feelings of insecurity that she had buried deep within instantly came back. Most people would have thought Kitty had everything going for her; she was the smartest student at Xavier's School for the Gifted, she was part of the X-Men's junior squad, and she had a dynamite boyfriend in Piotr Rasputin.

But, Kitty felt self-conscious about the fact that Peter was nearly three years older than her, and the current scene in front of her didn't help any. The sight of Peter blushing, as the two teenage girls fawned and swooned over him, made Kitty feel awful inside. It was like her worst fear had come true. That little voice inside of her kept telling her that Peter may have liked her, but that he would lose interest in the little school-girl that had such a huge crush on him when someone a little older and better looking came along. So she reacted instinctively, and Kitty took off down the street. Her departure, however, did not go unnoticed by Peter.

"Kitty! Where are you going?" Peter called out, as she continued down the street without answering…

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Half a world away at the mansion back in Salem Center, a confrontation that had been building for the last few weeks was finally about to erupt in the dormitory section of the school.

"You know, I just wanna go on the record and say I think you're a total asshole for what you're doin'." Jubilee said, as she stood at the bedroom doorway in the boys' wing of the school.

"And what would that be?" Bobby Drake replied from inside of the room, as he had just returned from spending most of the morning away from the mansion.

"What you did to Rogue." Jubilee replied, "She wasn't just your girlfriend, she's your teammate too."

"You're still on that. Not that it's any of your business, but breaking up with Rogue wasn't easy for me, or anything." Bobby told her, as he sat down on the bed in his room.

"Yeah, I'm sooo sure. It must not have been too hard either, since it seems so easy for you to go and start seein' some skank that you've been trying to hide from everybody." Jubilee asserted.

"That's what you think I've been doing?" Bobby asked her.

"We're not blind. You hurry out of here, are gone for hours on end, and then don't wanna talk about what you've been doing. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's been going on." Jubilee accused him.

"Fine, you really want to know what's going on with me?" Bobby said, as he raised his voice a little.

"Out with it already." Jubilee replied, her voice getting louder as well.

"Close the door, I don't want the whole world knowing about it." Bobby sighed, as his voice lowered and he reached into a desk-drawer near his bed. As he did, he pulled something out and tossed it to Jubilee.

Jubilee caught the object, after closing the door, and inspected it.

"What are you doin' with drugs?" Jubilee asked in a surprised tone, as she held a pill-bottle in her grasp.

"They're from a doctor." Bobby quickly assured her.

"But, these are anti-depressants? Why are you takin' them?" Jubilee further inquired.

"Why else? So I don't feel depressed." Bobby confessed.

"You're gonna have to break it down for me, because I'm lost and without a map here." Jubilee told him, as she sat down in a chair in his room.

"After everything that happened in Boston with my family, I've just been having trouble dealing. I mean, they called the cops on me when they found out I was a mutant." Bobby told her, "I was trying to deal with things myself, but I just kept feeling worse and worse. So, Hank recommended I go talk to a doctor friend of his, a guy named Doctor Lykos. I've been seeing him three days a week, and we talk about how I've been feeling."

"Why didn't you come to one of us first? We're your friends." Jubilee said, as she re-evaluated how she felt about Bobby's behavior over the last few weeks.

"Because you all have problems of your own. I didn't want to bother any of you with mine, and I didn't want any of you to think any less of me." Bobby revealed.

"Think any less? Where'd you get an idea like that?" Jubilee asked him.

"Look at you, both of your parents were killed when you were just a kid. Rogue's been through hell because of her powers, she even had to leave home because of what happened with them. I would've felt totally wrong for complaining that my parents don't like the fact that I'm a mutant, when you two have had it a lot worse. That, and I didn't want my teammates thinking I couldn't handle my responsibilities as an X-Man." Bobby continued.

"Nobody would've thought that." Jubilee assured him, as she walked over to hand him back the bottle, "You don't have to push us away. We're all like family, and family is supposed to be there for each other."

Bobby just sat there listening to what Jubilee was saying, and he finally heard her.

"Just promise that'll you'll tell us if you start feelin' horrible again." Jubilee said to him, as she sat down next to him and put her hand on his right shoulder.

"I promise. 'Firecracker'." Bobby said, as he called her by the nickname that he and John had come up with when Jubilee first arrived at the school.

"Ohh, I'm tryin' to have a tender moment, and you're gonna start with the name-callin', you walkin' 'Icee-machine'. In that case, let's see what else I can come up with." Jubilee smiled, as she tried to come up with a new insult to call Bobby.

It had been awhile since she and Bobby had kidded each other like this, and they were both glad that the air was finally clear between them. While their reconciliation was taking place, another reunion was about to take place one floor below them.

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As the handle to the front door of the mansion turned, a lone figure soon entered. It was a man that now felt like he was back home again.

"I'm glad the security system that Forge installed is operating quite proficiently, and alerted me to your presence. It has been a while, hasn't it Slim?" Henry McCoy said, as he had come from his lab downstairs into the main foyer of the mansion, to greet one his closest friends.

"It takes me years to break Alex out of calling me by that annoying nickname, then the first thing I'm hit with is you bringing it back up again." Scott Summers smiled, as he met Hank near the bottom of the staircase, "It's nice to see you too Hank, but I'm a little surprised that you're here."

"Well, the Professor was able to wrangle me into filling in as the Headmaster of this fine institution during his absence." Hank replied.

"Really? I half-expected to come back here and find Logan in charge, teaching all of the students 'Violence and Anti-Social Behavior-101'." Scott told him.

"Sorry to disappoint, but Logan has been gone for a few weeks now. He and Rogue are both in Japan." Hank responded.

"Japan?" Scott inquired, not expecting to hear that. But before he and Hank could continue, they were interrupted by the newest resident at Greymalkin Lane.

"Hank, will you please tell those little 'stalkers-in-training' to quit going through my things." Allison Blaire said, as she came down the stairs, "I keep telling Roberto and Jamie that I'm not hiding any memorabilia from my last tour, but they don't want to believe me. If I find out they've been in my room just one more time, I'm gonna light flash the both of them into…"

Allison stopped mid-sentence, as she looked and realized that Hank wasn't alone.

"I'm Scott Summers." Scott said, as he introduced himself to the unfamiliar young lady, "And you are?"

"I'm amazed, someone that's never heard of me." Allison jokingly replied, "My name's Allison. But you wouldn't know it by the way the kids around here keep calling me **Dazzler**. Sometimes I wish I'd never taken that movie-role."

"Movies?" Scott thought to himself, as he wasn't one to really keep up on current entertainment.

"Allison is staying here with us, until we figure out what to do about her current dilemma." Hank explained.

Just as Hank said that, two more students came down the stairs to add to the group gathering at the bottom of the staircase.

"Hi, Hank. Hi, Mr. Summers." Danielle Moonstar said, as she greeted her teachers.

"Hello, Danielle." Scott replied.

Scott then looked at the other student that was walking next to Dani.

"You must be a new student." Scott said, as he reached out to shake her hand.

"Yes sir, my name is Amara Aquilla. I've heard about you from the other students, Mr. Summers." Amara responded.

"I hope it's been something good." Scott said to her.

"Amara arrived here during your prolonged leave." Hank explained.

"You've got your work cut out on filling me in on everything that's been going on while I was gone Hank." Scott told him.

As the two men talked, Amara and Dani turned to look at Allison.

"We heard what you were saying about Roberto and Jamie, when we were coming down the stairs." Amara told her, "Boys can be such butt-heads sometimes."

"I know how we can fix them, so they won't bother you anymore. I mean, if you want." Dani added.

"All right. Come into the kitchen with me and tell me all about it." Allison said, as she and the girls went to walk past Hank and Scott towards the kitchen. As they were passing them, Allison made an observation about Scott.

"Cool Shades, Scott." Allison told him, as she lightly tapped him on the nose with her fore-finger. When she did that, Dani and Amara each busted out into a fit of giggles, as the trio then continued down the hallway.

"Um, thanks." Scott replied to her.

"Come on Scott, I can finish filling you in on everything down in the lab." Hank said, as they headed back down to the lower levels of the estate.

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Back across the Atlantic…

"Katya, will you please stop." Peter called out to her, as they were now about two blocks away from the shop where Kitty had bought her scarf at, "What is the matter?"

"From the looks of your bimbettes back there, I guess nothing!" Kitty shouted, as she finally stopped and turned back around.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked her, as he honestly didn't know why she was so upset.

"_Oooh Peter, ye're such a big, strong guy_." Kitty said, as she mockingly imitated the two girls, "What a buncha airheads!"

"Katya, I was just sitting there. I did not tell them to come up to me and make those comments." Peter told her.

"Well, you can go back to your new personal fan club and spend as much time as you want with them." Kitty said, as she started to turn and walk some more, but Peter ran over and stood in front of her.

Kitty looked up at Peter, before she spoke again.

"Come on, I can walk through walls. Do you really think you're that much more difficult for me to phase through?" Kitty pointed out to Peter.

"Katya, please. Just give me the opportunity to explain." Peter begged her.

"Explain what? How you were flirting with those…those…girls!" Kitty replied.

"No, to explain that you are the only girl that I ever want to flirt with. You are the one that I chased nearly a mile to catch up to, and I would chase you a hundred more if I had to." Peter revealed to her.

Kitty looked up into his deep, blue eyes. And somehow, someway, she knew that he was telling her the truth. But, she wasn't going to let him off that easy

"Okay, then here's your chance." Kitty said to Peter.

"Chance for what?" Peter asked her.

"You said that you only wanted to flirt with me, so get to it. Try and knock me off of my feet." Kitty challenged him.

Instead of knocking her off of her feet, Peter instead picked her up and swept her off of them, kissing her as passionately and intensely as he could. He held her smaller frame next to his larger torso in an embrace that lasted for more than a minute.

"How was that?" Peter asked her, as he put her back down.

"Not bad, but you still need some work." Kitty smiled, as she looked up at him.

"What?!" Peter responded.

"It's nothing that a little extra practice won't fix." Kitty smiled, as they went to kiss again.

But this time, they were interrupted. Not by a passing stranger, but by a passing thought…

"**X-Men!"**

**"X-Men!"**

**"Come quickly! Muir Island is under attack! Someone has sent**--"

And just like that the thought was cut off, just like a phone line going dead.

"**Oh my God Peter,** **that was the Professor!**" Kitty exclaimed, "There must be some major trouble, for him to send a telepathic message like that!"

"And also for it to stop in such an abrupt manner. We must go find the others." Peter said, as he and Kitty started to take off down the street to search for Ororo, Rahne, Theresa, and her father Sean.

But after only taking a few steps, the sound of a large explosion could be heard off in the distance. The young couple looked east, in the direction where Muir Island was, and saw a large plume of smoke rising.

Saying that something bad was happening on the horizon would have been an understatement.

It was obvious that something catastrophic was taking place at that very moment on Muir Island…

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Next chapter: Muir Island under siege…by the **Sentinels**!


	22. The Battle Of Muir Island

A/N: Special thanks to everyone for reviewing the last chapter-

**WingDing9**- Love of Kiotr is something that we both have in common.

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked it…

**MoonlightPhoenix3**- It's alright about the late review, I'm just glad you enjoyed those chapters. I plan on using Mr. Marko at some point down the road, I just haven't gotten the details together yet…

**B**- Thanks for the review, glad you liked the dramatic ending…

**JosiahGirl**- I'm glad you tuned and like what you see. I'll try my best not to disappoint…

**Lucas'sgirl**- Thanks for the review. Glad you loved the Kiotr action, it's a scene that I had been anticipating writing for a while now. Well, it looks like your wait is finally over…

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"That one is kinda cute." Theresa said, as she and Rahne stood together in the local shopping center located in Ullapool.

"Shhhh! What if they were t'hear ye?" Rahne said, as she shushed Theresa.

They were talking about a small group of teenage boys around the same age as Rahne and Theresa, who had gathered in an open area of the mall one floor below them.

"Then, maybe they'd make me a very lucky girl." Theresa joked, as she looked directly at Rahne. Normally, it was the kind of humor that she and Kitty loved to engage in, but Rahne's strict and religious upbringing had left her unprepared to hear that kind of talk.

"Such talk tis'nae proper, and is sinful. Ye shouldn't talk about the opposite sex in such a manner." Rahne whispered, as she looked down at the boys and started to blush a little.

"Oh, calm down will ye, I was only joking. It's not like I'm gonna go off and do something 'immoral' with one of them." Theresa responded, as she put her arm around her new friend who seemed to be honestly bothered by the subject matter of their conversation.

"Aye, I know. It's just that ye still shouldn't--" Rahne started, but stopped when her train of thought was interrupted…

"**X-Men!"**

**"X-Men!"**

**"Come quickly! Muir Island is under attack! Someone has sent**--"

The psychic shockwave quickly, and violently, passed through the minds of the two girls. While Theresa was used to Professor Xavier's mind calls, this one was strong enough to still send her reeling for a moment. But, Rahne had never had the experience of a telepath going into her mind. The sheer magnitude of this message instantly sent her to the ground, holding her head in agony.

"Theresa, what's going on?!" Rahne loudly cried out, as she lay on the ground with tears running down her face, "It feels like mah head is going t'explode."

 The other shoppers in the mall looked on and wondered what was wrong with the two girls, since Theresa and Rahne were the only ones that received the Professor's message.

"It's the Professor, but he never calls us like that." Theresa said, as she regained her bearings. "Something really bad is happening."

Theresa helped Rahne to her feet, and then spoke again.

"Let's go find m'Dad and Ms. Munroe." Theresa told her, as the two started off out of the mall…

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Theresa, Rahne, Peter, and Kitty all hurriedly made their way to the ferry port, where Ororo and Sean had told them to meet when it was time to go back to Muir Island. Sean and Ororo were already there, looking out across the water on the cool and brisk night. They were discussing their next course of action, as they saw smoke rising over Muir Island in the distance.

"Who do ye think is behind this?" Sean asked Ororo as they watched, unable to do anything about it at this point.

"It could be any number of enemies that the X-Men have made over the years. What is certain, there was fear in the Professor's call of desperation. That is something I have rarely sensed from him." Ororo answered.

"Ye have a point. It did pack quite a wallop, and Charley isn't one to easily resort to dramatic displays like that." Sean observed.

Just then, Kitty and Peter ran up to them.

"What's going on, Ms. Munroe?" Kitty asked, as they all stood together.

"We have precious little to tell you at this point." Ororo replied to her.

As soon as Ororo said that, a sense of alarm came over the group as they saw and heard a second explosion across the channel on Muir Island.

"By the White Wolf!" Peter gasped, as he looked on.

"My thoughts exactly." Sean told him, "Ororo, no use in tryin' t'wait on the ferry, the two of us can make there a lot faster anyways."

"Agreed. As soon as Theresa and Rahne's safety is assured, we will make our way over there." Ororo told him.

"What about us?" Kitty asked her, wondering where she and Peter fit into the scheme of things.

"This will not be a Danger Room session. Do you two feel that are you are ready for an actual combat situation?" Ororo asked both Kitty and Peter.

"If the Professor is in danger, then Colossus is most definitely prepared." Peter stoically replied.

"Yeah, what the big guy said goes for me too." Kitty added with a smile.

"I don't think we really have the luxury of debating the issue at this point, Ororo. We're gonna need all the help we can muster." Sean concluded.

A few minutes later, Theresa and Rahne made it to the ferry port where the rest of the group had gathered.

"What's wrong with the Professor? He mind-blasted Rahne and me, and we're not even X-Men." Theresa asked, as she went and stood by her father.

"It was an act of desperation." Ororo answered, "He was reaching out to any familiar thought pattern in his request for help."

"Rahne, do ye know where Moira's estate at Kinross is?" Sean asked her.

"Yes, sir." Rahne replied, as she looked up at him.

"I want you and Theresa to go there, it's not too far from here." Sean ordered them, "Find the groundskeeper of the estate, tell him who you are and about what is happening on Muir Island. Willie will know how to get into contact with the X-Men back home."

Rahne immediately turned and did as Sean told her, but Theresa wasn't so quick to obey her father.

"But Da', I wanna go with you." Theresa protested, "Kitty and Peter are gettin' to go."

"This is not some sort of game, young lady!" Sean quickly replied to his daughter, "We don't know what kind of danger is waiting over there, and I don't intend to argue the issue any further. Now, you two get goin' t'Kinross, and be careful."

With that, Theresa turned and followed behind Rahne, stomping off in the direction where Moira's ancestral estate was located.

As the two girls departed, the remaining X-Men prepared to make their leave as well.

"Kitty, I can carry you over with me. Sean, I believe that you should be able to ferry Peter across to Muir Island, as long as he is not in his armored form." Ororo told them.

"Well, tonight ye get t'see if this old man still has some of his moves left." Sean smiled, as he then turned towards Peter, "Ye should probably cover yuir ears, me sonic scream that allows me t'fly can be ear-splittin'."

"I am not too concerned. We have managed to survive being around Siryn since her arrival at our school." Peter joked, as he tried to lighten the mood before they headed off to Muir Island.

Storm then took Shadowcat by her left hand, and mentally called up a gust of wind to carry the two of them upwards and towards Muir Island. Meanwhile, Banshee let out a sonic scream that created numerous sound vibrations around him, lifting him up into the air as well. He grabbed Colossus by both hands and picked him up to follow behind Storm and Shadowcat.

Then the quartet was off, to face an as yet, unidentified enemy…

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While the X-Men in Scotland were preparing themselves for the worst, the X-Men back home in Salem Center were going about their daily business, totally unaware of the danger that lied ahead for their teammates.

"How are Alex and Lorna doing?" Hank asked Scott, as the two of them had finally made it to the lab area, down in the lower levels of the mansion.

"They're doing good. Both of them should be finishing their doctorate's degrees in a few years. They're even talking about getting married, if you can believe that?" Scott replied, as he took a seat in the lab, "It seems like it was only yesterday that Lorna and my little brother were students here."

"Indeed. As the saying goes '…as does time slip through the hourglass of life'." Hank said, as he took a seat in front of a computer terminal in the lab.

"Hopefully, they'll at least get the happy ending that I wish Jean and I could have had." Scott confessed.

"You and I both are living examples that our expectations of life do not necessarily work out the way that we want them to, even under the best of circumstances." Hank told him.

"Speaking of lost loves, when was the last time that you spoke to…" Scott started to ask, but Hank interrupted.

"I haven't tried." Hank quickly replied, "Despite how much I may want to."

"I guess I shouldn't have brought that up, it must still be a pretty sore subject." Scott apologized.

"I didn't mean to snap at you, my bestest chum. But, I guess it does still hurt after all of these years." Hank continued, "I've only been able to come to grips with her wish that we distance ourselves from one another, by trying to find some good in our separation. I at least like to think that it gave me the opportunity to fully dedicate myself in my pursuits in the field of science."

"And now at running a school. Who would've thought that?" Scott smirked, "But, I guess the Professor and this school are lucky that you decided to take him up on his offer."

"To be honest, after spending some time with him, I think Logan could have done just as good of a job as me." Hank told him.

"Are you serious?" Scott asked surprisingly.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Hank inquired.

"It's not whether I like him personally or not, I just think he's too reckless." Scott explained, "It's fine for him to go off half-cocked, he has a healing factor that'll manage to scrape him back up. But, most of the kids here don't have that advantage."

"So, it's his methods that you don't agree with?" Hank queried.

"I accept that he's an important part of the team, it's just that I think he's a bad influence on the students." Scott told him.

"Because they like him more?" Hank continued.

"Which shouldn't be any surprise, he's their walking 'definition' of cool." Scott responded, "He doesn't take well to authority, he basically says and does whatever he wants, whenever he wants…"

"And with you being the main authority figure, save the Professor, he does all of the things that you cannot." Hank pointed out.

Scott realized that Hank was making a case for him being jealous of Logan, and Scott started to wonder if maybe that was the truth behind why he didn't like Logan?

"The Professor filled me in on what went on between you two, before he left for Siberia. Are you sure that this is not about Jean, and the feelings that the both of you had for her?" Hank asked him, point blank.

"I want to say no, but maybe it's possible." Scott truthfully answered, "Logan has a wildside, something which I definitely don't. Who could blame Jean for seeing that as an appealing alternative?"

"It's funny, I think Logan pretty much reciprocates the same feelings towards you." Hank told him.

"How do you know that?" Scott asked him.

"He told me so, more or less." Hank replied, "During one our few chats that we had before he left for the Far East, Logan intimated that he thought you were the lucky one. When your name came up, his response was, and I quote, 'Most of the time, 'One-eye' treats me like I'm some bum off the street, just because he's the perfect livin' example of Xavier's dream. Hell, Jeannie was thinkin' only about him in her last few moments in this world. It's no wonder the guy thinks he's better than the rest of us."

Scott heard what Hank said, and was shocked by that revelation.

"I…never told Logan anything like that." Scott said to Hank.

"Perhaps not verbally, but sometimes perception can become a man's own reality. Behind his rough exterior and 'I-don't-care' attitude, Logan is a man just like the rest of us. Being a leader is about more than just knowing every aspect of stratagem, or effectively giving out orders. It is also about maintaining a conducive relationship with everyone under your command." Hank responded.

After hearing that, Scott realized that despite his desire to be the ideal leader, he had dismally failed in the department that dealt with the human side of his fellow X-Men, Logan in particular. He knew that it was something that he would need to give more attention to in the future…

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While Scott pondered what Hank had revealed to him, a student upstairs in the school's computer lab was about to experience a very cruel twist of fate.

"Almost finished, Ah can't believe it. It took me most of tha day, but Ah'm almost finished!" Samuel Guthrie, also known as Cannonball, joyously exclaimed. He was about to complete an essay that was due tomorrow, which he had typed up on the computer in front of him.

"All Ah got left t'do is finish this sentence and hit save, and Ah-am-done." Sam said, as he was about to finish up his work.

But suddenly, the computer monitor in front of him went completely blank.

"No, wait a minute, wait a minute, this ain't happenin'!" Sam repeated, as he hurriedly hit the keys on the keyboard in front of him, in an attempt to retrieve his essay.

Thinking that his efforts were futile, Sam soon put his head down on the desk in front of him.

"Ah hate computers..." Sam muttered.

What Sam didn't realize was that his work hadn't been lost, thanks to the master back up file on the main server. What had happened was that the entire computer network throughout the mansion had been re-routed back to the master system, when it went into emergency fail-safe mode.

It was something that immediately caught the attention of Hank McCoy.

"This is most peculiar." Hank said as he looked at the monitor in front of him, which had unrestricted access into the main server.

"What is it?" Scott asked, as he sat in his chair close by.

"The mansion's computer network is receiving an extremely massive download from Muir Island, through the direct link that we have to their network." Hank informed him.

"How massive?" Scott asked.

"It appears that every single file that Dr. MacTaggert has, is being sent here." Hank revealed, as he tried to fathom a guess as to why this was happening...

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Storm, Colossus, Banshee, and Shadowcat had all landed on the shoreline of Muir Island a few minutes after leaving the ferry port at Ullapool. Now, it was time to find out what exactly caused the Professor to send out such a desperate cry for help, and then suddenly be silenced. As they slowly approached the research facility, the group was careful to avoid being detected until they could learn the identity of the island's assailant. Then they saw…**Them**.

"Storm, is that what I think it is?" Shadowcat gasped, as she saw something that was about one hundred yards from them.

"I am afraid so. There are **Sentinels** attacking this island." Storm confirmed.

What the X-Men saw looked like something from a science-fiction movie. In front of them stood a couple of large robots that looked humanoid in appearance. They were colored in shades of dark and light purple, were about twenty feet tall, and had eyes that glowed an eery red. The Sentinel's eyes appeared as though they could burn a hole straight through steel. In reality, thanks to the weapons that were installed into the constructs, they could very easily do just that.

"Storm I thought that you told us, during our class on the history of the X-Men, the man who built the Sentinels was dead." Colossus asked her.

"We thought he had perished during a battle between the X-Men and his Sentinels." Storm answered, now questioning that belief herself.

"At any rate, it looks like we're in for one hum-dinger of a brawl." Sean stated as he looked at Storm, who served as the X-Men's second-in-command behind Cyclops, "What's our plan of attack?"

"Shadowcat, enter the complex and see if you can locate the Professor and Dr. MacTaggert. Colossus, Banshee, and myself will attempt to draw the Sentinels away from the facility." Storm told them.

"Will do." Shadowcat replied, as she started towards the facility. But, she stopped when the most important voice in the world to her spoke.

"Katya, be careful." Colossus said to her, as he stood next to Banshee and Storm.

"Promise." Shadowcat said, as she nodded her head yes and then touched her lips with two of her fingers, blowing him a semi-kiss. Then, she continued over to the facility and phased through one of it's thick outer walls.

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While the small group of X-Men prepared themselves for the fight of their lives, Theresa and Rahne were stopped on an empty road, halfway between Moira's estate in Kinross and Ullapool.

"Why did we stop? Is there something wrong?" Rahne asked Theresa, as they stood next to the road.

"I think we should go to Muir Island with the others." Theresa told her.

"But your father told us not to, and I don't think we should go disobeyin' him." Rahne replied.

"Ye don't always have to be such a goody-two shoes." Theresa told her, "Besides, what if they're in trouble, and need our help?"

"Do you think Miss Moira might really be in danger?" Rahne asked her, with concern in her voice.

"There's only one way to find out." Theresa smiled.

"But how are we goin' t'get there?" Rahne further questioned.

"I can fly us there with my powers. It'll be the farthest I've gone, but I think I can do it." Theresa answered.

"Okay, if yuir sure." Rahne agreed hesitantly.

The girls then turned and started towards the channel of water that lay in between Muir Island and the Scottish mainland. They had no idea, however, that Muir Island was the least safe place a mutant could be at that moment.

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Shadowcat quickly made her way down a number of corridors and back rooms in the huge research compound, not exactly sure of where she was heading. Eventually, she found herself inside of what she assumed to be one of the auxiliary laboratories. She came to that conclusion by the fact that the lights were off in the room, and it didn't appear that it had been in use anytime recently.

She continued on through the moderate sized room until she got to the other side, where the entrance of the auxiliary lab was and prepared to phase through its door. On the other side of the door, Shadowcat recognized that she was now in the facility's computer hub.

And in less than a second, she also realized that she wasn't in there alone.

"Halt."

Upon hearing the monotone voice as it boomed, Shadowcat saw that a Sentinel robot was also occupying the room that she had just entered. She noticed that the Sentinel had blasted it's own entrance through the wall on the opposite side of the room. But, Shadowcat noticed something else as well. She saw that it was holding an unconscious person in it's grasp, and upon closer inspection, she realized that the person was none other than Dr. Moira MacTaggert herself!

"Dr. MacTaggert! Hey you, put her down." Shadowcat ordered the Sentinel, hoping that she might get lucky and it would do as she said.

But, she was going to have no such luck this night.

"Scanning target: target possesses mutagenic anamoly. Scanning database. Identification confirmed: target is Katherine Pryde, cross-referencing: target also identified as Shadowcat. Unit 0005: **Initiating termination sequence, per Prime Directive: Three**." The Sentinel said, as it raised it's other hand in the direction towards Shadowcat.

At that point, the Sentinel unleashed a powerful and bright energy blast from it's palm, obliterating everything in it's path. Shadowcat instinctively reacted, and blindly phased through the floor to avoid the blast.

Blindly phasing through objects held the same element of danger for Shadowcat, that blindly teleporting held for her teammate Nightcrawler. By not knowing where she was going, she had no idea where she was going to end up. Example in point, Shadowcat made it through the floor to the room below her. The room below was actually the storage basement of the research facility, and while Shadowcat had expected a small drop to the floor below, she hadn't anticipated a thirty-foot drop from the ceiling. Shadowcat instantly tried to regain her composure and phase herself once again, trying to slow down her descent as she rapidly fell.

But, the shock of the height that she was currently at had momentarily broken her concentration, and try as she might, Shadowcat continued falling downward.

She then hit some boxes and other objects in storage below, with a very loud thud…

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Outside of the compound, the other three outnumbered X-Men were busy, trying to handle all of the other Sentinels on the island.

"Banshee, take me up as high in the air as you can, and then drop me into these monsters." Colossus asked him.

"Do ye think ye can handle goin' into the whole lot of those mechanical menaces, me boyo?" Banshee questioned.

"Once I am in my armored form, they will regret making their trespass here." Colossus said, as Banshee grabbed his hands, and then used his sonic-scream to lift the both of them up into the air.

While Storm was using her elemental powers to electrocute two of the large robots, Banshee flew Colossus up skyward. Then, Banshee released Colossus, allowing him to free-fall back to the ground. Colossus instantly converted his entire body into organic-steel in mid-air. This caused the shirt and pants that he was wearing to stretch and rip around his arms and thighs, due to the increase in size and mass that accompanied his mutant conversion. His descent to the ground began to quickly accelerate, and it turned him into a sort of human wrecking ball aimed at the four Sentinels below.

Colossus hit with a thunderous reverberation, as he went straight through the chest of one of the Sentinels and put it down for good. Debris from the demolished Sentinel flew and hit two of the others, causing damage to those units, but leaving them still active.

"Unit 0003, 0004, 0008 and 0010 Damage Assessment: Unit 0004 status: Now offline. Unit 0003, 0008 and 0010 continuing assessment, Units suffering from decrease in external structural integrity. Analysis: Remaining Units still functional. Units detecting multiple mutagenic anomalies in immediate vicinity. Initiating termination sequence of targets: Peter Rasputin: cross-referenced as Colossus, Sean Cassidy: cross-referenced as Banshee. Re-engaging in termination sequence of target: Ororo Munroe: cross-referenced as Storm." The Sentinels said, as they began to fire at all three X-Men.

Colossus grabbed an arm belonging to the fallen Sentinel, and proceeded to use it as a club to strike out at one of it's comrades. While Colossus knocked the Sentinel down, another nearby unit that was still functioning instantly blasted Colossus with it's own energy beam.

Colossus was knocked off balance and sent to the ground hard. As the Sentinel continued blasting, Colossus found himself being pulverized and driven into the ground, as a large crater began to form around him. Colossus had long wondered what the limits of his invulnerability were, and he feared that he might soon find out. But to the rescue was Banshee, who flew up behind the Sentinel that was blasting Colossus to help his new teammate.

He tore the Sentinel to shreds with a piercing sonic-scream, one that was very tightly aimed at the unit. But by destroying that Sentinel, Banshee drew the attention of two more Sentinels that had just arrived there from another part of the facility. One of these units fired a gas grenade near Colossus and Banshee, and it immediately exploded upon impact.

While in his armored form Colossus, was un-phased by the gas. But, Banshee's powers did not give him that same advantage. Luckily, the gas installed in the Sentinels by their creators was of a non-lethal mixture. They had intentionally made it non-lethal, in case the Sentinels had to use it an area populated by non-mutants. The gas still served it's purpose though, as it knocked Banshee out cold. While the two Sentinels prepared to move in for the kill and finish Banshee off, Storm hit one of the robots with a lightning bolt that fried it's circuitry.

Just then, Unit 0005 blasted a hole through the roof of the research facility and took off into the air. The remaining Sentinel units immediately took notice of this.

"Unit 0005 has accomplished Prime Directive: One. Target: Moira MacTaggert is now secure. Units 0002, 0007, 0008 and 0011 disengaging in combat maneuvers. Units now providing additional security to Unit 0005, per Prime Directive: One."

After hearing the Sentinels, Colossus immediately understood what they meant.

"Storm, we must stop the one that is flying away. It has Dr. MacTaggert." Colossus told her.

Without a response, Storm instantly flew high up into the air to pursue Unit 0005. The Sentinel had placed Dr. Moira MacTaggert in a containment unit that was built into its upper torso. But, the other Sentinels recalled their programming that commanded them to ensure that Moira was taken back to their base. So, they fired numerous blasts at Storm, who was doing her best to dodge them and continue following the one that had Moira. But, one Sentinel did manage to land a grazing blow on Storm with its energy blast, and it sent her spiraling down into the murky night water around Muir Island. She hit the water not very far from the Muir Island coastline, and Colossus quickly dashed down there to get to Storm before she drowned. Meanwhile, the Sentinels were now able to make good on their escape.

Colossus had made a mental note as to the area where Storm had went into the water. When he got to the water's edge, he converted himself back to his human form so that he could swim more easily, and jumped in. After searching for a few minutes in the place where she had fallen in, he found her just in time. Peter was able to drag the both of them back to the shoreline, where he immediately collapsed and they both laid for a while.

----------------------------------------------------

"Man, I feel like I just used one of those nine lives Jubilee is always saying that I have." Kitty said to herself, as she sat up on top of the boxes in the basement. She was thinking about all of the 'cat' references Jubilee had made to her because of her real name and also her codename.

As she sat there and regained her composure, Kitty felt water trickling down her forehead. As she put her hand up there, a dim light in the basement revealed that it was actually her own blood on her hand. She had hit the storage boxes fairly hard, and while they most likely kept her injuries from being a lot worse, the fall into them did create a noticeable gash above her face. Kitty decided to get up, and look for a way out of the basement. She wanted to go help Moira, and then find the Professor. Kitty made her way up the staircase in the basement and phased through the door, but she was extra cautious this time.

She looked around the corridor outside and didn't see anybody. Kitty started to walk down it and instantly recognized the part of the facility that she was in, it was the hallway that led to the main laboratory in the facility. She slowly made her way down to the main lab, keeping a constant lookout for any Sentinels that might still be lurking around in the compound.

Finally, she made it to the entrance of the lab and peeked in to see if anybody was in there. As she looked in, Kitty saw that the lab was a total wreck. She walked through the wreckage in the room, as equipment and parts of equipment were strewn about and rubble was everywhere from where the Sentinels had demolished most of the roof and part of the lab's walls. But, the next thing that she saw made her stomach leap up into her throat.

It was the Professor's wheelchair, lying under some rubble from the caved in roof. She didn't see him anywhere and she knew he wouldn't be able to go anywhere without his wheelchair. She wondered if the Sentinels had grabbed him too? As she scanned the area around the wheelchair for clues, Kitty found a very big one.

She saw a hand barely sticking out through a pile of fallen concrete, from where the roof had fallen down. Kitty recognized the brown glove on the hand as being the same one that the Professor wore. She took hold of the hand and phased the person out from under the rubble. Kitty's worse fear was realized, as she immediately identified the individual as being that kind, older man that brought her to his school when her ability to walk and fall through solid objects first emerged. The Professor looked like he had some very major injuries after being buried underneath the debris in the lab.

"Professor! Can you hear me?" Kitty called to him, as she cradled his head in her lap hoping for a response.

But, she didn't get one. A feeling of dread came over Kitty, as she had to do one of the hardest things in her life up to that point. She reached down, and checked the Professor's pulse just like she had been taught in her CPR training back at the school. She was relieved when she felt one, although it wasn't very strong. She then checked his breathing, and it sounded like he was breathing irregularly.

"Don't panic, just don't panic." Kitty thought to herself, as she tried to keep calm so that she could help the Professor.

She decided that the best thing she could do would be to go to the med-lab inside of the research facility. Kitty remembered that she and Theresa had passed it once, it was on the night when they had first arrived on Muir Island. She didn't want to leave Professor Xavier alone in his current condition, but she didn't think that she had much choice. She knew that the equipment in the med-lab would be necessary to stabilize him until they could get someone a little more experienced to look at him, somebody like Storm. So, off Kitty went out of the main lab…

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"Peter? Peter, can you hear me?" A voice said to him, as he lay near the water's edge on Muir Island.

"Da (Yes)." Peter replied, as he slowly picked himself up from the muddy ground.

He then felt someone reach around his massive upper body and try to help him up. As Peter's vision came back into focus, he realized that Ororo was the one talking to and helping him. Peter saw that Ororo's white hair was still wet. He realized that they were both soaked to the bone, and freezing from their deep-sea dive.

"You saved my life. Thank you." Ororo said, as the pair gingerly made their way back to the research compound. Peter could tell by how she was walking, that Ororo was in pretty bad shape.

"There is no need for thanks. It is what you have taught us to do, Ms. Munroe." Peter replied.

"After what we've been through tonight, just call me Ororo. You and Kitty have, at the very least, earned that." Ororo told him, as she held her side.

"Ororo," Peter said, even though it felt strange to be calling his teacher by her first name, "How badly are you injured?"

"It feels as though the worst of it is in my right leg and my side, where the Sentinel's blast partially hit me." Ororo replied, as she limped alongside Peter.

Peter saw that the red blouse that she was wearing was singed from the blast on her right side, leaving a very nasty burn on her skin. But despite the pain, Ororo continued on and didn't give him any visible sign that relayed the discomfort he knew that she must've been feeling.

Peter had always looked up to her as a perfect example of a beautiful and strong woman. But he realized now that she was one of the toughest people that he had ever met. As they took a few more steps, the pain from Ororo's leg injury finally became too much for her to bear, and she had to sit down for a moment. After resting for a couple of minutes, Ororo got up to continue their trek, but Peter stopped her.

"Peter, what are you doing?" Ororo asked, as Peter picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"You are in no condition to walk with your leg in such a state." Peter told her, as he held her in his arms.

"Do you intend to carry me the entire way back?" Ororo smiled, thinking that Peter wasn't serious.

"Yes," Peter replied, "After what we have been through tonight, it is the very least that you deserve."

Peter proceeded to carry Ororo the entire distance from the shoreline to the research complex. When they neared one of the entrances, they both saw that the knock-out gas that had been released had worn off on Sean.

"Somethin' tells me I'm gonna have m'self one killer of a headache in the morning." Sean told them.

"I suppose that we should thank the goddess that we are still able to feel anything at this point." Ororo said, as Peter put her down and helped her over to a nearby rock to have a seat.

Just then, Kitty came outside to where the rest of the X-Men were.

"Geez, I thought I looked bad. You guys really got run through the wringer." Kitty said, as she looked at the state everyone was in.

"Do you think that you should be joking about something so serious, Katya?" Peter asked her.

"I can either joke about it or just burst into tears. I don't much feel like crying, and it wouldn't do the Professor any good." Kitty replied to her boyfriend.

"Is the Professor all right?" Ororo asked, as she continued to sit.

"He's unconscious. It looks he was buried under some rubble after one of the Sentinels started an impromptu remodeling job." Kitty replied, "I went and got some equipment to help stabilize his breathing and help monitor his vitals, but beyond that I'm pretty much out of my league."

"But he is going to be okay, isn't he?" Another unexpected voice said, as she startled the entire group.

"What in the name of all that's holy are you two doin' here?! I specifically told the both of ye t'get t'Moira's home!" Sean shouted, as Rahne and Theresa now stood in front of the research complex.

"We did'na mean t'disobey ye, Mr. Cassidy. We were just so concerned about ye all, and about Miss Moira." Rahne apologized.

"That may be. But had ye been here a few minutes earlier, those Sentinels would have blown the two of ye into the next century." Sean told her.

"Sentinels?" Rahne asked, not having the slightest idea what he was talking about.

"They're giant, mutant-hunting robots." Sean quickly responded, "But that's besides the point. What I want t'know is how did ye get here in the first place?"

"Theresa used her powers to fly us over here." Rahne answered.

Sean then looked angrily at his daughter.

"Is that true?" Sean asked her.

But the only response that Theresa gave was a simple nod yes.

"What's the matter young lady, cat got yuir tongue?" Sean asked, as he continued grilling her.

"She can't talk right now, sir. I think she hurt her voice flyin' us over here." Rahne told him.

"I would say it serves ye right, but we have enough injuries as it is, without adding to that list." Sean said, as Theresa just looked down at the ground.

"Speaking of injuries, we had better go see what the Professor's condition is." Storm said, as she willed herself to stand up.

"Where is Miss Moira? Shouldn't she be lookin' after the Professor?" Rahne asked.

"Yeah, where is the sole heir to Lord Kinross at anyways?" Sean asked, as he had been unconscious during the Sentinels' escape.

Ororo and Peter looked at Rahne, and then they looked at one another. They knew they had to tell Rahne the truth, but they were having trouble finding the words.

"Rahne, dear, something has happened. Moira isn't here right now, but we are going to find her very soon." Ororo started.

"Where is she? Please, ye have t'tell me what's happened?" Rahne begged them.

"During our fight with the Sentinels, one of them grabbed her. Storm tried to stop it, but there were just too many of them." Peter told her, and watched as the young girl's heart sank right before him, "But Ororo is correct, we will not rest until we have found Dr. MacTaggert."

"This is all mah fault!" Rahne shouted at them, as tears began to well up in her eyes upon hearing the news that the only person that genuinely seemed to care about her, was now gone.

"It's not your fault, it's the fault of whatever maniac built those things." Kitty said, trying to calm Rahne down.

"No, don't ye understand! Reverend Craig said I'm an evil creature, and now Miss Moira is bein' punished by the Almighty for takin' me in. She should've just left me to die, and then none of this would be happenin'!" Rahne said as she took off, running as fast as she could away from the facility.

"I will follow her." Peter said, as he started to go after Rahne. But, Ororo stopped him.

"Let her be alone for awhile." Ororo told him, "Take it from someone that lost both of her parents as a child. Moira is like a mother to that girl, and nothing that you can say right now is going to ease that pain. I will have a talk with her, after we take care of the Professor."

The entire group then turned to go into damaged research facility, both to check on Professor Xavier and to tend to their own various injuries. As they were going in, Kitty stopped Peter while the rest of the group walked ahead of them.

"Ororo? What's the deal with that?" Kitty asked, as she wondered why Peter was now on a first name basis with their instructor.

"It is a long story and I will fill you in later, Katya." Peter said, as he put his arm around Kitty and hugged her tightly, before they walked into the compound together…

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Next Chapter: Aftermath…


	23. Aftermath

A/N: Special thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

**TheDreamerLady**- Yeah, it's a pretty bad time for Rahne right now, but at least she's made some new friends to help her through it.

**Lucas'sgirl**- Normally, I try to keep from writing chapters that long, but I didn't think it would've worked the same if I broke it up into multiple parts. I'm glad you still managed to finish it though!

**Freelancer**- Uncommon? I give you a standing ovation for finishing this in one sitting, I don't think I could've done it and I wrote the thing. I'm glad you liked it and I agree with you about some of the subplots. After going back and reading some chapters, I realize I could've explained some things a little better, but I'll try to fix that in future updates. Glad you like the mix of different realities, and especially that you like the Kiotr!

**Independent Fire**- Glad you like everything. It's okay about reviewing irregularly, just as long as you give your thoughts on things every so often.

**Navi-Zero**- Glad you like the blend of things, hope you continue to look forward to more…

**nightcrawlerclone**- Glad you liked it…

**Jeremy Harper**- Thanks for taking the time to review. Yeah, the first few chapters really weren't that strong, but this is the first X-Men fanfic that I've ever written and I'm pretty much learning as I go.

Glad you liked the fight scene. As far as the Sentinels, you don't know how much time I spent trying to decide how I was going to use them. I don't think twenty-foot robots would work in a live-action movie either. I had even considered jumping forward and using Sentinels similar in size to Nano-Sentinels, but that just didn't seem right for a second-generation model. So, I went with the standard model, and scaled them down from the super-size models that the X-Men in the comics routinely go up against, to what I'm using here. And I do intend to stay in this for the long haul, so I hope you enjoy what's coming up next!

**Moon Comix**- Glad you decided to take a peak at what's been going on over in this story. And as far as Logan and Rogue, everything that's taking place in this story is going to have a **very big** impact on them as well.

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Less than twelve hours after the fight of their lives, some of the X-Men on Muir Island were up with the sun, as it began its ascent into the eastern horizon. They were desperately searching for a young friend of theirs, who the night before had learned the most difficult truth of her young life up to that point.

That sometimes life can just be cruel beyond belief.

At least, that is the closest way to describe how Rahne Sinclair felt after learning that her foster mother Dr. Moira MacTaggert, the woman who had shown Rahne love and cared for her as if she had bore her herself, had been taken from the island by strange and monstrous creations called Sentinels. As a result, Rahne had taken off in a futile attempt to escape the hurt that she felt inside, and also the sense that it was her presence on the island that drew the Sentinels there in the first place. Now, it was up to Kitty, Peter, and Theresa, who were currently looking for Rahne, to figure out a way to convince her otherwise.

**Raahhnne**…

**Raahhnne**?

Peter and Kitty called out on a remote part of the island, but received no answer from the young Scottish girl.

"We're gonna spend the whole morning looking for Rahne at this rate." Kitty said, as she, Peter, and Theresa walked along the island, keeping an eye out for any sign of her.

"And if she has really converted into her wolf-form, there is no telling where she may be right now." Peter replied, as they talked and continued to call out her name.

"I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that she's all 'were-wolf' right about now. When Ororo went to look for her last night, all she found were Rahne's clothes lying in a pile like they had been ripped off, or clawed through." Kitty said to him, "Ororo said she tried to look for her, but it was too dark and her leg's still too messed up for her to walk long distances."

"On top of that, the Professor is finally conscious again, but is unable to use his powers to locate her. We could definitely use Wolverine's tracking abilities at a time like this." Peter said, as they stopped on a hilltop overlooking another part of the island.

"No kidding. Bub." Kitty replied, as she giggled a little after saying that to Peter, "We could even use 'Songbird's' vocals to try and find Rahne, her powers were tailor made for stuff like this. But no, you had to go try 'n prove that you're one of the big kids."

Kitty made her last statement while looking directly at Theresa, but Theresa was currently unable to utter a response. She had severely injured her vocal chords when she used her mutant sonic abilities to fly herself and Rahne from the mainland of Scotland over to Muir Island.

But, Theresa did manage to shoot a look at Kitty that said, in no uncertain terms, where Kitty could go.

"Anyways, if we don't find her, it won't be from lack of trying. We've been halfway around this island already." Kitty continued, "What I don't get is why she even used her powers, when she told us how much she hated them and how they made her feel dirty. Prime example is this extra set of clothes that I brought with us. Rahne said that her conversion forces her body to shed her clothes when she changes. She said when she converts back, she wakes up naked and not really sure what she was doing."

"It is probably because she is not thinking like her usual self." Peter answered, "You heard her last night, she believes the Sentinels came to Muir Island as some form of punishment from above."

"Poor kid, we've gotta find her and straighten her out. None of what happened was her fault, but I for one would definitely like to know what psycho was responsible for sending those things here in the first place." Kitty said, as anger started to well up inside of her.

"As do I, Katya." Peter said in agreement, also wanting an answer to that particular question.

After walking for a little while longer, Peter's knowledge of nature and the outdoors led them to an area of the island where they happened upon a small cave in a secluded area.

"Both of you stay here, I have a feeling that we may have found her." Peter said, as he walked towards the entrance to the cave.

As he got closer, Peter heard what sounded like a low-pitched growl from inside.

"Rahne? If you can hear me, this is Peter. We have come to help you." Peter told her.

But, he didn't get a response, at least not in the form of a human voice. So, Peter decided to investigate further, and quickly learned the answer to his query as he neared the cave.

"Peter!" Kitty shouted, as a large brown wolf lunged at Peter from inside of the cave. Peter quickly moved out of the way, to avoid being pounced on.

"I am okay." Peter said to Kitty, as he stood up and faced off against Wolfsbane, who was now in her lupine form and was currently in her animal state of mind.

"Quick, turn yourself into Colossus." Kitty told him, not wanting her boyfriend to get hurt or mauled.

"I cannot, I do not want to hurt Rahne. But, I believe I can handle her." Peter reassured Kitty, as he stared into the wolf's eyes.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Kitty asked him.

"I used to wrestle the animals near my home in Siberia as a boy. Some of them were quite larger than Rahne, and I did not have the aid of my mutant powers at that time." Peter revealed.

"Hold it just-one-minute. I don't remember seeing any animals hanging around your home when we were there." Kitty pointed out, recalling their recent trip to Peter's homeland.

"Perhaps, it is because they learned long ago that it was unwise for them to come near the Rasputin home." Peter smiled, as he reminisced on his days spent growing up near Lake Baikal.

As soon as Peter said that, Wolfsbane lunged at him again and landed on Peter, knocking him to the ground. But this time, it was exactly what Peter had wanted. Despite not being in his steel body, Peter still possessed an unnatural level of strength, in comparison to most other human beings. This allowed him to wrestle Wolfsbane down, and eventually wrap his arms around her. He placed her in a type of sleeper-hold, just like his older brother Mikhail had taught him. Within a matter of minutes, Wolfsbane was out cold. Peter was soon carrying her back to the research complex across his shoulders, walking alongside Kitty and Theresa.

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A little more than an hour after the trio of Peter, Kitty, and Theresa had returned to the damaged research complex with Rahne, news of the previous night's disturbance on the island finally reached the British national media. In no time, there was a helicopter flying overhead, broadcasting news of the strike against the research center by what were believed to be Sentinel machines…

…_Last night, there was apparently some type of explosion at this research facility located on Muir Island, off the eastern coast of Scotland's mainland. While the cause of this explosion was most likely a ruptured gas line, a few local eyewitnesses report that they saw large robots flying over the island. This has fueled speculation by internet-conspiracy theorists that Sentinels were responsible for the damage caused here, which have long rumored to have been in existence for the purpose of defending humanity against an increasingly hostile mutant populace. One might draw the conclusion that last night was perhaps a pre-emptive strike, against organizations that secretly provide support to such suspected mutant terrorist groups. But at this point, no such link can be confirmed between these groups and Dr. Moira MacTaggert, who runs the research facility located on Muir Island. With the latest, this has been Louise Ferrera reporting. Back to you Brent_… 

Although the reporter said that the reason for the attack on the island was unclear at that point, her statement provided little comfort to a small group of television viewers watching from a venerable school in upstate New York.

"I guess this explains why we haven't been able to get through to anyone on Muir Island." Bobby said, as he, Jubilee, Kurt, Alison, Rictor and Jones were all in the main room of the mansion, as the hour neared midnight local time.

They were all watching the big-screen television as it displayed footage of the research facility with a huge gaping hole in the center of it, and rubble scattered on the sides from where other parts of the complex had been demolished.

"I wonder if everyone there's okay?" Rictor asked, voicing his concern about the well-being of their friends.

"I hope so." Jubilee replied.

Just then, a small group of younger students came down from the dormitory upstairs, to join those that were already in the living room.

"Those army guys are gonna come back, aren't they?" A worried Jamie Madrox asked, as he came and took a seat on the floor by the sofa that Jones, Jubilee and Rictor were sitting in.

"We were up in Kitty's room, since she has a TV in there, and were flippin' through the channels when we saw the news break. What goin' on?" Danielle Moonstar asked Alison.

"I was just passing by myself, coming back from a late night workout downstairs when the news report happened to catch my attention. Me and Jones have been watching since they first started talking about it. So far they haven't said too much, other than they think something called Sentinels attacked that place." Alison told them, before looking over at Kurt, "Do you know what they're talking about?"

"Ja." Kurt replied, "It means very big trouble, if what they say is true. I am going downstairs to see if Scott and Hank are aware of what has happened. Alison, Jubilee, Bobby, just try to keep everyone up here calm."

With that, Kurt disappeared from the room in a cloud of smoke.

"I'm not worried, we can handle them if they come here looking for trouble." A confident Roberto DaCosta said, as he leaned forward against the back of the sofa.

"Yeah, just like when Stryker's men showed up." Dani replied, "You ended up in a prison cell too, along with the some of the rest of us, 'Berto."

"Don't remind me." Roberto responded.

"Dani has a point. We didn't do very well against a bunch of regular guys with guns, how do you think we'll do against a bunch of killer robots, or whatever those things are?" James Proudstar also said to Roberto, "Colossus was ten times stronger than you and me combined, and those things managed to kill him."

"Don't talk like that! We have to assume that they're alright, until we here somethin' different." Jubilee told James.

"I'm just being real. I mean, you saw what that island looked like." James replied.

"And I'm bein' serious too, keep talkin' like that and Sentinels'll be the least of your worries!" Jubilee replied, in an unusually angry tone.

"Jubes, James, both of you just calm down." Bobby intervened, "We're all worried about our friends, but getting into a fight isn't going to help them."

"I know. I'm sorry for snappin' at you like that James." Jubilee apologized, "Look, I'm gonna go try again and see if I can get an answer over there."

Jubilee then picked up a com-link phone that had direct access to the Blackbird, and went into another room at the mansion. Scott had tried calling Muir Island on the regular phone, after the school began receiving an emergency computer download from Dr. MacTaggert. But, the only thing he got was a message stating that the phone lines were temporarily out of service. So, Jubilee decided to try contacting someone through the secure com-link. Following the problems that Logan said he had in using the com-link, back when Stryker invaded their school, dramatic improvements had been made to the communication system. Now, the X-Men could use them to talk from virtually anywhere around the world. What had Jubilee really worried though was the fact that, despite the improvements, she still hadn't gotten an answer from the other end on the Blackbird.

But, there was a good reason for that…

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"I didn't think I'd ever get down here." Kitty said to herself, after changing into her Junior X-Men uniform, and then making her way down to the hangar underneath the Muir Island complex where the Blackbird had been docked.

Kitty's phasing ability made it easy for her to go through the debris, which now blocked the passageway to the hangar below. Debris also covered the hangar's doors above her, which was similar in design to the retractable hangar doors built beneath the basketball court back home. So, she volunteered to come and see what shape their ticket home was in. After her experience the night before with phasing into unfamiliar territory, Kitty was being extra cautious now as she made her way down below. Some might say that she even seemed a bit gun-shy about using her powers, when compared to how she normally phased through objects in the past.

At any rate, now that Kitty had finally made it to the floor level of the hangar, she walked around the Blackbird to do a visual inspection of the super-sonic plane.

"It doesn't look too bad. Being way down here probably kept it from being completely trashed by those Sentinels." Kitty thought to herself, as she only saw some minor damage from debris that had been shook off of the walls, leaving a few scratches and dents on the exterior hull of the Blackbird as evidence.

Kitty then decided to go inside of the plane, and make sure that all of its internal components were still functioning correctly. She walked up to the Blackbird and located the key-pad next to the ramp, where she punched in the security code and watched as the ramp lowered for her. Once inside of the plane, she proceeded on to the cockpit to begin running standard diagnostics tests on it. As she sat down in the pilot's chair and watched the readout that displayed the results on the control panel, Kitty noticed that a light on the Blackbird's communication system was flashing, indicating that it was receiving an incoming call.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end said to her, as Kitty picked up the phone shaped communicator in her hand.

"Can you hear me?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah." Jubilee replied.

"Can you hear me, now?" Kitty asked again.

"You know, even if I didn't recognize the voice, there's only one person I know that thinks that commercial is still the least bit funny." Jubilee replied, relieved that she finally got into contact with someone on Muir Island.

"What can I say? A classic is a classic." Kitty smiled.

"Classically lame, maybe." Jubilee responded.

"Anyways, I assume since it's the middle of the night over there, and you're calling me on the secret 'spy-phone', you heard about what happened." Kitty said to her.

"Heard about it? We saw it all over the news, as in world news." Jubilee told her, "They're talking about you guys like you're terrorists. What happened exactly?"

"The only terrorist is the guy that decided to send a buncha giant, killer robots to maim, destroy, and kidnap." Kitty responded.

"How bad is it over there?" Jubilee asked.

"Well, one of those Sentinels took off with Dr. MacTaggert. I got banged up a little, but the Professor and Ororo took the worst of what they had to dish out. One of the walls in this place got caved in on him, and it hurt him so bad that he can't even use his telepathic powers. The Professor's still recovering in the med-lab right now." Kitty revealed.

"How about Ororo?" Jubilee asked, with dread in her voice.

"She's up and around now. Her leg is still botherin' her, but that's to be expected after being shot by one of those things." Kitty told her.

"Being what?!" Jubilee exclaimed.

Jubilee's animated reaction to news of Ororo's injury was due to the fact that, next to Rogue, Ororo was the person that she was probably closest to at the school. The two of them seemed to get each other almost instantly, and Ororo was the one that talked with Jubilee every night for the first month after her arrival at the school. Jubilee was surprised that Ororo, like her, had lost both of her parents tragically as a child too. They were also able to relate to each other's experiences of living on their own at a very young age.

"She's gonna be alright Jube, she just has a really bad bruise to show for it." Kitty added, trying to calm Jubilee down.

"Okay, how's about everyone else?" Jubilee continued inquiring, pushing her own worries into the back of her mind.

"Well, Siryn hurt her voice trying to scream her head off, but luckily her Dad was here to help out and keep things from getting any worse than they already were." Kitty told her, "Peter's been going non-stop since last night. Right now, he's doing his 'metal man' thing about two stories above me, and is clearing off of the landing pad so that we can get out of here as soon as possible."

"Sounds like he's earned a nice back rub from somebody I know." Jubilee teased her.

"Actually, he likes it when I massage his shoulders." Kitty replied, not realizing what she had just said.

"**Whoa**! I was only kidding." Jubilee exclaimed, as she definitely did realize what Kitty had just said. Jubilee remembered how shy Kitty was around Peter before they left a few weeks ago, and didn't know how much things had changed between the two.

"Um, yeah…so, how's Rogue doing?" Kitty asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Apparently, not as good as you seem to be doing on your European Spring Break." Jubilee responded, "But to be honest, I wouldn't really know about that either. She took off with Logan for Japan, not too long after you guys left."

"Why'd she go there?" Kitty asked.

"She and Bobby got into a fight, and then broke up. She decided to go over there for awhile, so she could clear her head." Jubilee answered.

"Are you serious? I know they've been having problems since whatever happened between them in Boston, but they actually broke up?" Kitty responded, as it was now her turn to be the one out of the loop when it came to the latest news regarding hook-ups and break-ups.

"Yep." Jubilee confirmed.

"We've been talking about everyone and everything else, what's the latest with you and 'Lancelot'?" Kitty asked, referring to Jubilee and Doug.

"It's all good, but it's just too bad that our last date ended up with the police having to break things up." Jubilee answered.

"What're you talking about?" Kitty inquired.

"When we went to the Alison Blaire concert, I ended up duking it out with the Blob on stage. He and Pyro were there, just to cause trouble and keep decent folks from havin' a good time." Jubilee told her.

"The Brotherhood was there? I still can't believe John is actually in cahoots with that buncha losers." Kitty added.

"I know, but that's not the craziest part…" Jubilee said, as she started to tell Kitty that Alison was now living at the mansion, but decided to save that as a surprise for her, "I just realized, I better go tell Cyclops and the others that I got through to you."

"Don't worry about it, Storm and Banshee are working on getting the phone and communication lines back up. They'll probably be conference calling you guys in the War Room later." Kitty replied, " But I'd better get going too. I need to finish running all the preliminaries on the Blackbird, to see if we can get it airborne."

"All right, catch you later." Jubilee said, as she disconnected her communicator and got up to tell the others about the news that she had just received.

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While Kitty continued checking out the Blackbird underneath Muir Island, Ororo was in the complex's med-lab up above, checking on the condition of their mentor.

"Is there anything that I can get for you?" Ororo asked, as she walked into the med-lab.

"No, but thank you Ororo." Professor Xavier replied from one of the hospital beds in there, "How is your leg feeling?"

"It is getting better, but I suppose that you won't mind if I have a seat and rest it for a moment." Ororo said, as she sat down in a chair next to the Professor's bed, "How is your own recovery proceeding?"

"The headaches and dizzy spells seem to be coming less frequently than they were when I first awoke, but I have yet to regain use of my empathic abilities." Professor Xavier revealed.

"You suffered severe head trauma last night, and it may just take some time before you have use of them again." Ororo said to him, as she looked closely at the deep bruise on the Professor's head, from where a large piece of concrete had struck him in the main laboratory.

"I imagine that you are right," Professor Xavier replied, sounding less confident than Ororo about his prognosis, "How are the others?"

"Peter is busy clearing away the debris from last night's battle, and repairing any major damage to the research facility's structure. He has also taken the remains of the fallen Sentinels, and placed them in a storage area underneath the complex for further examination." Ororo replied, " Sean and I have been working on repairing one of the video communication devices here that provides a direct channel to the mansion, and Kitty is checking on the status of the Blackbird in the hangar below."

"How are Theresa and Rahne?" Professor Xavier continued inquiring.

"Theresa is with Rahne in one of the auxiliary labs. We have Rahne sedated and restrained right now, to prevent her from hurting others, or herself." Ororo told him.

"She still has not reverted back to her human form?" Professor Xavier asked.

"Despite being unconscious, the poor child has remained in her wolf-state." Ororo stated, "I fear that Moira's disappearance may have caused her severe psychological distress, which she is simply unable to handle at the moment."

"I can relate to her mindset, which may take a step in explaining my own dilemma regarding the use of my powers." Professor Xavier told Ororo.

"What do you mean?" Ororo asked him.

"While lying here, I have had time to think." Professor Xavier began, "Some might say that I possess the most powerful mind on Earth, but twice now, those abilities have done little to prevent, or even warn me of impending dangers to those that I care about the most in this world. I recall Erik telling me one time, during one of my visits with him during his incarceration, that each of our mutant powers seemed to be rather symbolic. While I was the great thinker, content with dreaming of ideals for an ideal world, he was the great builder, actually forging a new world from a broken one."

"How does that relate to our current situation?" Ororo asked him.

"I've been bothered by the fact that this 'great thinker's' abilities were of little help to Moira last night, the woman that at one time I intended to spend the rest of my life with." Professor Xavier revealed.

"You, as well as the rest of us, did the best that we could given the circumstances. All that we can do now is try to be better prepared for our next encounter, when we go to find Moira and face whoever is responsible for her kidnapping and for unleashing an evil like the Sentinels on us." Ororo said, as she put her hand over Professor Xavier's, "As far as your conversation with Magneto, you may not have the physical abilities that the rest of us may have, but remember that the X-Men do not fight for a world that Magneto seeks to build, but a world that a 'great thinker' dreams about and would like to one day make reality."

Ororo then stood up from the chair that she had been sitting in.

"I had better go see how Sean is faring with restoring communication."

As Ororo walked towards the door that led out of the med-lab, the Professor spoke to her again.

"Ororo…" Professor Xavier said to her.

"Yes?" Ororo replied, as she turned back around.

"Thank you." Professor Xavier said, thanking her for her words.

With that, Ororo answered only with a smile, before leaving to find Sean.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Later that afternoon on Muir Island, Ororo and Sean finally got the island's communications functioning again, and immediately patched into the War Room at the mansion.

"My dear Ororo, what a relief it is to see your beautiful face again." Hank said, as he, Scott and Kurt sat in the War Room looking up at the multiple video screens mounted on the wall. They had been watching the various news feeds coming in from around the world, trying to figure out what their next course of action should be.

"It is nice to see you as well, Hank." Ororo replied, as she and Sean stood in front of the large screen in the facility, both dressed in their uniforms.

"What, no warm welcome for me?" Kurt jokingly asked her.

"It is nice to see you as well, Kurt." Ororo smiled.

"Now that we've all exchanged pleasantries, I suppose that it's time that we discuss something not quite as pleasant." Scott said.

"What have ye found out?" Sean asked Scott.

"Unfortunately, outside of what Jubilee relayed to us from you this morning, not much. We've been monitoring the various broadcasts around the world for the better part of the day." Scott started, "Just about every government in the free world has issued a denial of any involvement in what happened. The British government has publicly issued a statement, saying only that they will continue to investigate the matter further. But our own underground sources say that they're livid at any action, whether in the name of global security or not, being taken on sovereign soil by another country and without their knowledge or approval."

"Which begs the question, who would have the capability to do such a thing?" Ororo asked.

"On the short list of immediate candidates, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have to be at the top. But, this doesn't seem to fit with their normal operating procedures. They usually like to do things with more subtlety, and with as little attention from the public as possible." Hank answered.

"Whoever orchestrated this attack wanted to make a very public statement, and in a very dramatic fashion." Kurt added.

"Dr. MacTaggert is just a scientist, trying to unlock the secrets of the mutant genome." Ororo stated, "It is strange that whoever sent these Sentinels would leave behind an island full of mutants and take her, a non-mutant, instead."

"I've been thinking about that too, and it appears that we may dealing with someone who has a hidden, personal agenda." Scott replied, "Until we find out more, I've put the school on alert status. I think everyone over on Muir Island should be prepared for anything as well."

"Of course. But, as soon as we are able to, we will be returning home." Ororo told him, "I will contact you again before we leave."

"And we will continue to monitor things over on this side. Cyclops out." Scott replied, as they both signed off and ended their briefing of current events.

"Do you still intend to return back to the mansion with us?" Ororo asked Sean, as she went to sit down in a chair in the room to give her leg another rest, before going to check on everyone else on the island.

"Ye better believe it! If there's a fight a brewin', then I have no intention of turnin' tail and run." Sean replied.

"Then you will get your wish. The Sentinels may have dealt a first, unexpected blow to us. But, they will soon learn that the X-Men are not so easily put down for a final count." Ororo said, with deep determination and resolve in her voice, as unknown to her, she voiced what the other X-Men currently felt inside…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

To be continued in **A Force Unleashed**…


End file.
